Cross Country World Cup

Cross Country World Cup

Petter Northug of Norway won a men's 50-kilometer cross-country World Cup race after sprinting past Pietro Piller Cottrer of Italy in the last 200 meters on Saturday.

Marit Bjorgen won the women's 30-kilometer race. Kristin Stormer Steira and Therese Johaug were second and third as Norwegians swept the top three positions.

Northug finished in 2 hours, 9 minutes, 18.5 seconds, 2.9 seconds ahead of Piller Cottrer, who completed the race in 2:09:21.4. Vincent Vittoz of France was 29.8 seconds behind in third at 2:09:51.2.

Vittoz and Piller Cottrer led the race during the last 10 kilometers with Northug, who was ranked first overall, nipping at their heels. The victory put Northug 383 points ahead of second-placed Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic in the overall ranking and within reach of the World Cup title with five events to go. Bauer finished 17th on Saturday.

"The World Cup is what you want to win most, apart from the world championship and Tour de Ski, so this is really great," Northug told Norwegian national broadcaster NRK.

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