Lucas Chanavat edges Pellegrino to win Davos freestyle sprint; Klaebo out in quarterfinals

French sprinter Lucas Chanavat claimed a narrow victory in the men’s freestyle sprint at the Davos World Cup, diving at the line to beat Italy’s Federico Pellegrino by just a few centimeters. Norway’s Oskar Vike rounded out the podium in third.

Chanavat, recently back from a tibial stress fracture suffered in mid‑September, dominated throughout the day: he set the fastest qualification time, then comfortably won both his quarterfinal and semifinal before sealing the 45th World Cup final of his career with a photo‑finish triumph. “I started training again 20 days ago. I was beaten in national races and now I win a World Cup,” he said afterward.

The French team dealt with a late scratch from Richard Jouve due to back pain. Rémi Bourdin and Jules Chappaz advanced from qualifying but were eliminated in their quarterfinals. Young teammates Victor Cullet Calderini and Ivan Essonnier finished well outside the top 30 in qualifying.

A major storyline was Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s rare early exit: he was knocked out in the quarterfinals for the first time in a freestyle sprint, finishing fourth in his heat after a near-miss early in the course and a blown final corner. It is just the fourth time he has missed a World Cup podium.

In the women’s sprint, Sweden’s Jonna Sundling won ahead of Norway’s Mathilde Myhrvold and Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich. For France, Léna Quintin and Mélissa Gal reached the quarterfinals but did not advance; Léonie Perry, Julie Pierrel, Justine Gaillard and Liv Coupat missed the top‑30 cut in qualifying.

The Davos sprints are part of the FIS Cross‑Country World Cup circuit.