While Therese Johaug was already nervously sliding back and forth at the start like a racehorse, Weng and Østberg jogged comfortably towards the start area: 2:33 minutes behind, they still had some time. It was clear to both that they did not have to think about Therese Johaug and so they concentrated on the fight for second place, while Therese Johaug extended her lead - at least in the first two kilometers of each lap, where it was mostly uphill. When Therese Johaug finally reached the finish after 15 kilometers, only five women had crossed the split time at 12.2 kilometers. 3:40 minutes later Heidi Weng won the final sprint against Ingvild Flugstad Østberg. Ebba Andersson (SWE, Fischer ***) finished fourth. Sadie Maubet Bjornsen (USA, Fischer ***) came in tenth ahead of Teresa Stadlober (AUT, Fischer ***), both were overtaken in the race by everal athletes from the wave start who ended up behind them in the final classification.
Alexander Bolshunov's (RUS) fears should come true: 15 minutes before the start it started to snow and in the drift of snow his 34-second lead visibly melted and Pål Golberg (NOR) caught up with the Russian after only ten minutes and 3.5 kilometers. Some athletes took wax ski, some went with no wax, which was definitely the better option - Bolshunov and his team chose the waxed option, unlike the Norwegians. In the group that Bolshunov caught up halfway through the race, Emil Iversen (NOR, Fischer ***) turned out to be the strongest, starting in tenth and thus had to regain up to 1:15 minutes ahead of Nyenget, the third-placed the final stage. He kept trying to break away from the group, but was unable to do so. When the pace in the group slowed down again during the penultimate lap, Hans Christer Holund and Simen Hegstad Krüger (NOR) were able to escape from the group after increasing the pace. In the finish sprint, Holund later lost to Krüger, 30 seconds behind Golberg, who celebrated his greatest success to date. In the duel between the sprinters immediately behind the duo, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR, Fischer ***) was the loser: he tried to change the corridor out of the slipstream but ended up in a too slow lane and finished sixth behind Emil Iversen and Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget (NOR, Fischer ***). Like his teammate Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN), Iivo Niskanen (FIN, Fischer ***) raced an outstanding race and made up position after position. He started 16th, four minutes behind and crossed the finish line just 1:48 minutes behind Golberg in eighth place: It wasn't nearly enough for the fastest net time and thus 50 World Cup points - Iversen was still eleven seconds faster. Dario Cologna (SUI, Fischer) finished tenth.
* = Fischer skis
** = Fischer skis and bindings
*** = Fischer skis, bindings and boots
