Astrid Jacobsen wins hectic fifth stage as Therese Johaug falls but retains lead

Updated 03/01/2020 at 16:55 GMT

The fifth stage of the Tour de Ski was an action packed one as leader Therese Johaug fell but recovered sufficiently to hold onto first place in the overall standings as Astrid Jacobsen won the Mass Start.

Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen of Norway takes 1st place, Ebba Andersson takes 2nd place, Katharina Hennig of Germany takes 3rd place during the FIS Nordic World Cup Men's and Women's Cross Country Classic Mass Start on January 3, 2020 in Val Di Fiemme, Italy

Image credit: Getty Images

Johaug came into Friday’s race having been beaten in the Pursuit on New Year’s Day by Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg and she knew there could be pressure on her were she to falter again.

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She started decently enough but just after the 5km mark she fell and lost ground on her rivals.

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That opened up the door for the rest of the pack, including Oestberg, who was suddenly in with a chance of putting a major dent into Johaug’s title hopes.

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As Johaug fought her way back into contention it became an open competition between the leading group only for more drama to strike in the final uphill section.

Oestberg’s pole snapped and she dropped down and ended up finishing fifth, one place Johaug who is now 19 seconds ahead in the overall standings as another of her rivals, Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia, had a bad day.

Second place on the day went to Sweden’s Ebba Andersson, her first race back since a knee injury she suffered in November. Germany’s Katharina Hennig rounded off the podium.

In the men's race later on Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo made it two Norwegian victories in the day as he beat out the Russians.

It was a tightly contested event as all three of Sergey Ustiugov, Alexander Bolshunov and Andrey Larkov looked to try and take the fight to Klaebo.

As ever Klaebo rarely looked flustered and he timed his pushes perfectly, taking a total of 27 bonus points on his way to victory.