Russian Alexander Bolshunov gained an element of revenge over Norway's Johannes Klaebo with victory in the cross-country mass start World Cup on Saturday, the first race since their controversial end to the world championships last Sunday.
Bolshunov won the 15-kilometre race in Switzerland's Engadin in 34 minutes 7.1 seconds with rival Klaebo a massive 18.4 seconds behind and Pal Golberg, another Norwegian, third another five tenths of a second back.
Though Bolshunov has successfully defended his overall World Cup title, he had a frustrating world championships in Germany's Oberstdorf which ended in tears after Klaebo broke one of his ski poles in the final sprint for the concluding 50km race.
Klaebo, who crossed the line first, was disqualified for the incident but that offered little consolation to Bolshunov even as he moved up from bronze to silver.
Women's race
In the women's race, World Cup overall champion Jessica Diggins was fifth in the 10km mass start won by Russian Yulia Stupak in 25:13.3 minutes.
Norway's Heidi Weng was 7.1 seconds behind the winner and third went to Swede Ebba Andersson a further 1.4 seconds back.
Norwegian star Therese Johaug did not compete due to a reported injury and will also miss Sunday's season-ending 30km pursuit.
The men also conclude their season with a 50km pursuit in Engadin, which is deputizing after Oslo withdrew due to coronavirus issues.
The original finals, scheduled for Beijing next weekend, were also cancelled amid the global pandemic.
