Norway took a clean sweep of the men's classic sprint in a nordic skiing World Cup event here on Wednesday.

Johan Kjoelstad led his country's charge in two minutes 13.9 seconds ahead of teammate John Kristian Dahl second, 1.6 off the pace, while Eldar Roenning was third 2.1 seconds adrift.

World Cup leader Petter Northug exited the competition at the quarterfinal stage and finished 16th.

In the women's event, Slovenia's Petra Majdic picked up her ninth victory of the season as the 29-year-old crossed the finish line in two minutes 36.3 seconds, ahead of Finland's Aino Kaisa Saarinen who was just 0.5 behind.

Sweden's Anna Olsson was third 1.2 seconds off the pace.

Majdic leads the overall stands with 91 points clear.

(Xinhua News Agency March 19, 2009)