La Clusaz, France - Petter Northug of Norway gave another demonstration of his sprint finish strength on Saturday to win a 30 kilometres cross-country ski race.

Northug, 22, was unstoppable on the home stretch of the freestyle mass start race in France as he claimed his third career victory in 1 hour 19 minutes 26.5 seconds in driving snowfall.

Dario Cologna of Italy was beaten by three tenth of a second as he climbed a World Cup podium for the first time in his career in second place.

Compatriot Giorgio di Centa and Alexander Legkov of Russia were joint third, 2.0 seconds behind Northug.

By winning, Northug also moved on top of the World Cup standings with 160 points from four races.

A women's 15km mass start race was scheduled for later Saturday at the same venue. (dpa)