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Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR) was victorious in Ruka, Finland for the second time in his career. Norway continues its hold on the top of the podium, but more contenders are arising to vie for the remaining steps. (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)

Where skiing venues are concerned, winter arrives first in Kuusamo, Finland, site of the ski resort known as Ruka. It makes sense, then, that the 2025-2026 FIS World Cup season would begin in this far-northern place where sunrise and sunset are barely separated by actual daylight.

The first races of the season are about straightening out the kinks and blowing out the cobwebs. Everyone needs to get back in the groove: athletes, coaches, wax techs, broadcasters, statisticians, reporters. Some pick up right where they left off, others stumble out of the gate, still others wonder why they’ve showed up at all. But the season is long, and performances in the first race (whether memorably good, or memorably bad) don’t forge a mold for the entire season.

The first FIS World Cup broadcast of the 2025-2026 season suffered from many of the same problems befalling any local race conducted on slushy trails around a city golf course. Conditions are always challenging and stressful, waxing and ski selection make a difference, and the electric timing often fails to work perfectly. In Ruka, on-air commentators Chad Salmela and Kikkan Randall were often left with race splits that failed to update, or blank screens that gave them no information at all. But Salmela and Randall are seasoned pros: they rolled with the punches, and called the race that the cameras showed them. Likewise, most skiers hit their stride by race’s end, and the final results ended up looking like what many fans might’ve expected.

In pre-race interviews, American, Ben Ogden, expressed the excitement at the start of a new season. “I’ve been hunkered down in Vermont, doing what I do,” grinned Ogden. “I’m excited to be traveling again . . . Nothing like a good ol’ Ruka 10 k to get your Classic skiing going again.”

The 10 k distance is one requiring both endurance and speed, though neither quality is sufficient to guarantee success in this all-out event. Go out too fast, and you’ll flame out. Start too conservatively, and you’ll never catch up to faster starters. The winner will be the one who commits to the risk of a fast start, and is able to somehow pick up even a bit more speed at the end. Quite a balancing act, quite a miracle of modern athletic performance. Quite a harsh baptisim to start off a World Cup season. Let the racing begin!

Mika Vermeulen (AUT) reminds us that more than just Norwegians have chances to earn glory in the season to come. (Photo:  Modica/NordicFocus)

But nothing is certain when it comes to competing at this level—and even the most glowing reputations do not guarantee racing success. World Cup racing is FAST, and there’s no way to know if a racer has that speed until they pull on a bib and toe the starting line. Based on his unprecedented level of domination last season, we kind of expect Klaebo to win . . . but Klaebo didn’t win everything last season, and an interval start race is one in which just about anyone can pop up and deliver a good one. Ultimately, Klaebo earned a spot on the podium, but it seemed almost like an afterthought. Klaebo found himself in the unusual position of being overshadowed by not only the day’s winner—Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR)—but also by the third place skier—Austria’s Mike Vermeulen. Norway had another big day, but it’s evident that Norwegians won’t be the only ones waving their flag on the World Cup podium this season.

Americans were led by Zak Ketterson’s laudable 14th place finish. He was followed by Ben Ogden 33rd, Gus Schumacher, 36th, Zanden McMullen 47th, JC Schoonmaker 61st, John Steel Hagenbuch 62nd, Luke Jager 67th. No Canadian skiers were entered in this event.

10 k Classic Interval Start

Ten kilometers may not be a truly “classic” distance—the great events of our sports history were typically conducted over far greater distances—but beginning the season with a Classic Interval Start event seems like a tip of the hat to the long history of cross-country skiing. For generations, the races that mattered in cross-country skiing were those in which lone skiers strided into the forest, following narrow pre-set tracks, undertaking daunting solo time-trials toward distant finish lines.

The lights had already turned on, illuminating Ruka’s ski jumping hill, before the men took to the trails for their 10 k Classic. Like the women’s field had done just a couple of hours before, the men raced two laps around a five kilometer course that climbed up and down Ruka’s steep, benchlike hill sides. The field of 109 starters included the flags of many nations not normally associated with cross-country skiing: Bermuda, Chile, Thailand, India, Peru, Armenia, Israel, Venezuela, Ecuador. It’s an Olympic year, after all, and races from many nations will want to carry their flags into that arena.

The week leading up to today’s race had been very cold with no new snow, but temperatures approached freezing by race time. The difficulties of waxing and ski prep would be compounded by a light snow that began falling just before the start. Ski testing had all but concluded, setting the stage for any number of potential waxing disasters on Ruka’s steeply climbing course.

Finland’s eyes were  on native son, Iivo Niskanen—a renowned Classic skiing specialist—who’s Classic skiing prowess was likely to impact the results. Win or lose, Niskanen races with passion and fire; he’s always likely to leave his heart on the course in Ruka. Wearing bib 51, Niskanen was the first of the pre-race contenders to test the course. All other chasers would judge themselves against Niskanen’s split times. Ogden’s pre-race enthusiasm had bubbled to the surface in the early kilometers, as he came through the 1.1 kilometer checkpoint first among early starters. His pace appeared even more solid when he was bettered by Niskanen, but only by a tenth of a second.

Mika Vermeulen (AUT) was the surprise of the Ruka 10 k Classic. He raced hard from the gun, and secured a place for Austria on the podium. (Photo:  Modica/NordicFocus)

Klaebo came through the first time check in seventh, a bit behind Niskanen and virtually tied with Edvin Anger (SWE). At 3.1 kilometers, the second time check showed a close race between Anger, Harald Oestberg Amundsen, Klaebo, and Niskanen. Mika Vermeulen (AUT) came surging through the field to put up the fastest split time at 6.1 kilometers.

Wearing bib number 79, Nyenget possessed the advantage of being the latest starter of all the pre-race contenders. Nyenget used his late starting position to hunt down those who’d gone before, posting a time even faster than Vermeulen. Niskanen appeared to fade down the stretch, coming across as the fastest finisher at that point, just ahead of Mattis Stenshagen (NOR) and holding off Valnes by .1 seconds. Niskanen would finish the day in fifth. Like Niskanen, Anger faded late, ending his day in ninth.

Nyenget came through with fastest splits at 8.1 kilometers (leading Klaebo by seven seconds). The race would depend on who finished with the most energy in the final two kilometers. Vermeulen crossed the finish line to displace Niskanen from the leader’s chair, but Klaebo and Nyenget were still on course and charging through the final kilometers. Vermeulen’s time in the leader’s chair was shortlived, as Klaebo drove across the line to push the Austrian into second place by 2.1 seconds.

Seen here duroing the 10 k Classic from the 2025 World Championships in Trondheim , Zak Ketterson (USA) delivered a career-best performance (14th) in Ruka. (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus.)

Nyenget began his drive to the finish at the same moment he caught up to American, Zak Ketterson. Together, they powered up the final hill where Nyenget pulled away in the herringbone section after Ketterson caught a tip. Ketterson would recover to claim the best World Cup finish: 14th place, barely more than 30 seconds from the podium. Nyenget would hold on to best Klaebo by 2.1 seconds, earning the second Ruka Classic win of his World Cup career.

In post-race interviews, Nyenget, himself, seemed a bit surprised by his victory. “When you hear Johannes is closing the gap—you know he has a beast of a finish,” Nyenget said. “I tried to just maintain my focus on myself.”

10 K Classic Interval Start RESULTS

First podium of the World Cup season: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR), Martin Loewstroem Nyenget (NOR), Mika Vermeulen (AUT). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)