FALUN, Sweden - Double Olympic champion Petter Northug of Norway ended his impressive season by winning the last cross-country race of the World Cup calendar Sunday.
The 23-year old Norwegian won the 15-kilometre handicap race in 44 minutes, 30.8 seconds, entering the ski stadium in Falun with a big enough lead to slow down and wave at the cheering crowd. Northug, who had already secured the overall World Cup title, finished 3.4 seconds ahead of runner-up Maurice Manificat of France.
Sweden's Marcus Hellner finished third, 11 seconds behind, after being overtaken by Manificat just before the final straight.
In the women's race, Marit Bjoergen of Norway celebrated her 30th birthday by winning the 10K handicap race.
The triple Olympic champion had a 40-second head start in the race based on the previous results at the World Cup finals and was never threatened. She finished in 31 minutes, 58 seconds, with overall World Cup champion Justyna Kowalczyk finishing 51.9 seconds back in second.
Sweden's Charlotte Kalla came in third, 1:12.8 back.
Bjoergen secured second place in the overall standings with the win. She overtook Petra Majdic of Slovenia, who has not competed since fracturing her ribs during the Vancouver Olympics.