The brutally even-matched race field made for a thrilling fight from the first pole plant to the final surge for the finish line in the men’s team sprint in Dresden, Germany, on Sunday afternoon. 

As the gun went off, Norway’s Thomas Helland Larsen took the lead off the start line, followed by Alexander Bolshunov. The Russian had a lot to prove after not even advancing from the qualifier in the individual sprintyesterday. 

Bolshunov surged on the 11th lap, setting his teammate Gleb Retivykh up perfectly for the last leg. But when Even Northug surged after at the last exchange with Helland Larsen, Retivykh struggled to stay with him. 

Yesterday’s individual sprint winner Håvard Solås Taugbøl grabbed the opportunity to move into second place, but in the end, Northug was clearly the strongest, leaving everyone else to fight for the crumbs. 

Norways’s team I was second and Russia’s team I was third. 

 “That was amazing. Its huge to cross the finish line first in a World Cup,” Even Northug says after the impressive victory in the empty city center. 

“We used the semifinal to figure things out. In the final, we did everything right. But I couldnt have pulled this off if I wasnt set up in first place at the last exchange,” Northug explains. 

For both Northug and Helland Larsen, this was the first World Cup victory. 

“It’s so insanely fun that we, two boys who are not even on the national team, can come here and beat everyone and win a World Cup race. It’s cool to come in as the underdogs and finish like this,” Helland Larsen says.  

Traditionally, the winner from Saturday’s sprint race in Dresden has advanced to win the team sprint on Sunday. That happened in 2018, 2019 and 2020. That trend was broken today.  

Top 3 team sprint men, World Cup Dresden 
1. Norway II (Thomas Helland Larsen/Even Northug)
2. Norway I (Sindre Bjørnestad Skar/Håvard Solås Taugbøl)
3. Russia I (Alexander Bolshunov/ Gleb Retivykh)

Full results

In the women’s final, Sweden controlled the race from the start to the finish