Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won a third race on the spin in Ruka ©Getty Images

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo made it a hat-trick of wins to start the Cross-Country World Cup season, narrowly beating Pål Golberg in a 20 kilometres freestyle pursuit in Ruka.

Klæbo was 0.7sec quicker to the line than his fellow Norwegian and 1.3 ahead of Ferderico Pellegrino, crossing the line after 45min 30.6sec.

Italy's Pellegrino - twice an Olympic sprint silver medallist - is this season's first men's podium finisher not from Norway.

Swede William Poromaa and Norway's Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget completed the top five.

Sweden's Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson were the top two in the women's race again, but in a reversal of yesterday's result it was Karlsson who won.

Karlsson completed the course in 49:55.3 and was victorious by more than half a minute.

Andersson in turn was more than half a minute quicker than Norwegian Tiril Udnes Weng, who for the second time this weekend was third.

Ebba Andersson, left, and Frida Karlsson, right, were the women's top two for the second day running ©Getty Images
Ebba Andersson, left, and Frida Karlsson, right, were the women's top two for the second day running ©Getty Images

Compatriots Heidi Weng and Silje Theodorsen completed the top five.

Karlsson leads the women's standings by virtue of today's victory.

She and Tiril Udnes Weng each have 258 points.

Klæbo, last season's overall crystal globe winner, leads the early men's standings on 315 points.

Golberg, a podium finisher in each of the three events in Ruka, has 292.

The Cross-Country World Cup circuit heads to Lillehammer next weekend, with freestyle sprint and 10km races planned, plus a classic mass start over 20km.