Ruthless Northug underlines dominances with crushing victory

PETTER Northug underlined his dominance of cross-country skiing's World Cup with a storming season-ending victory in Falun.

DOMINANT: Petter Northug crushed his opposition for his ninth World Cup win of the season in Falun (Getty Images)

The Norwegian - who won double gold at the recent Winter Olympics in Vancouver - had already wrapped up the overall World Cup title but he had no intention of taking things easy in the final 15km handicap race of a gruelling season.

He even had time to pause on the finish straight, shake scores of hands and collect a flag, such was his comprehensive winning margin.

It concludes a season that has seen the 24-year old win nine races and claim 15 podiums in his 20 races, in addition to his success in Whistler last month.

France's Maurice Manificat finished second - and although the official record will say he finished just over three seconds behind - that was not a fair reflection on Northug's comprehensive victory, secured in 44 minutes 30.8 seconds. Sweden's Marcus Hellner placed third.