February 22, 2016 (Lahti, FIN) – Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 27th in a men’s 30km (15kC+15kF) skiathlon on Sunday at the Pre World Championship event in Lahti (FIN). The Norwegians were back to their winning ways as Martin Johnsrud Sundby topped the field and further extended his lead in both the Overall World Cup standings and in the Distance World Cup standings.

With a time of 1:10:03, he was 4.9 seconds ahead of teammate Finn Haagen Krogh, who also took second place in yesterday’s sprint competition. Rounding out the top three was Hans Christer Holund, who was exactly eight seconds behind the winning pace. in the Skiathlon as they earned a podium sweep under snowy skies. Bjornsen was just 27 seconds out of the top 20.

Mid-race the French and Russians were looking like they might threaten for the victory, but in the end, there was little drama at the finish line as the Sundby finished with no stress to earn first place. Ultimately, the biggest non-Norwegian threat Maurice Manificat (FRA) ended in sixth place nearly 50 seconds behind Sundby.

In total, Norway placed six athletes in the top ten, with a pair of Frenchmen and two Russians breaking up the standings.

It was a dream weekend for Team Norway, which claimed 11 of the 12 total podiums during the two men’s and two ladies’ competitions at the Pre World Championship Lahti Ski Games. Only American Jessica Diggins was able to snap the clean sweep with her second place finish in the ladies’ sprint.

Results here.