Vika managed to escape with less than 1,000 meters to go. Edvard Sandvik won silver, while bronze went to Frenchman Julien Arnaud.

The Frenchman held off Andreas Fjorden Ree in the fight for bronze.

There was good cooperation between Andreas Fjorden Ree, Edvard Sandvik and Jonas Vika in the second round.

The fourth Norwegian in the race, Amund Korsæth, broke a pole on the first lap and was around 19 seconds behind before the turn.

He lost again in the race and finished in 13th place, beaten by 42.4 seconds.

Many riders, eleven in number, had gathered for the last lap, and no one wanted to set the pace in the lead.

The best of Fosnaes

Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs has risen to the top of the joint start women’s 20 kilometer classic in the Under-23 World Championship. Margrethe Bergane took bronze.

Bergane tried to keep a good pace from the start and held the lead for most of the two miles.

Fosnæs took silver in the sprint on Sunday and was unstoppable in the sprint. The money went to Lisa Lohmann from Germany.

There were challenging trails with long descents that are suitable for good diagonal riders. It was the same 5 kilometer loop that was used in the 2010 Olympics.

The Norwegian riders were all well ahead in the first of four laps. Bergane eventually got help from Emma Kirkeberg Mørk, but Fossum runner Fosnæs and Sigrid Leseth Føyen held on tight at the top.

Føyen, on the other hand, lost the front ground on their way down to the stadium in the second round.

On the third lap, Mørk also had to retire. Among the foreign competitors, only the German Lohmann was able to keep pace with the two Norwegian riders in the third lap to the top.

On the last lap, there were seven riders who had gathered. The top three, however, managed to escape early, and the final trick was which of Bergane, Fosnæs and Lohmann would run away with gold, silver and bronze.

Mørk finished in seventh place, while Føyen was tenth.

(© NTB)