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DUESSELDORF, Germany—Josef Wenzl of Germany was the surprise winner Saturday at the season-opener of cross-country skiing’s World Cup.
Wenzl collected his first World Cup win, covering the 1.5 kilometer freestyle sprint race in 3 minutes, 7.4 seconds on artificial snow.
Swedish Olympic champion Bjorn Lind was second, 0.3 seconds back. Jon Kristian Dahl of Norway was third, 0.4 back, in a race watched by 80,000 spectators.
“I hoped for a win, but I didn’t expect it,” said Wenzl, who also won his three qualifying races to reach the final.
Natalia Matveyeva of Russia won the women’s freestyle race in 1:48.1, with Marit Bjorgen of Norway 0.9 behind after four wins at the event. Anna Dahlberg of Sweden was third, 1.1 back.
