Christine Nesbitt finished second in the women's 1,500 metres Saturday, edging out Canadian teammate Kristina Groves at a long-track speedskating World Cup event in the Netherlands.

Nesbitt, from London, Ont., missed her third victory of the young season by a mere 5/100ths of a second, clocking one minute 56.74 seconds at Heerenveen.

Ireen Wust of the Netherlands won in 1:56.69 while Groves, from Ottawa, posted her first podium finish of the season in 1:57.05.

Nesbitt won both the 1,000 and 1,500 at the opening World Cup in Berlin last weekend.

Cindy Klassen, continuing her comeback from surgery on both knees last year, was 11th Saturday in 1:59.32, while fellow Winnipeger Brittany Schussler was 12th in 1:59.34.

Nesbitt was also 14th in the women's 500 in 39.10 seconds, well off the pace set by defending World Cup 500 champion Jenny Wolf, who won in 37.83 despite wobbling on her skates on the final bend.

Wang Beixing of China, the only skater to beat the German over 500 metres this season, was second in 38.07 and Dutch skater Annette Gerritsen was third in 38.18.

On the men's side, Dutchman Sven Kramer overcame a fever to win the 5,000-metre race, narrowly maintaining his two-year unbeaten streak over the distance.

He won in 6:16.29 seconds, with Dutch teammate Bob de Jong second in 6:16.38 at Thialf Stadium. Havard Bokko of Norway, the leader for much of the race, was third in 6:17.10.

The last time the 23-year-old lost a 5,000 race was Nov. 11, 2007.

"I had to dig deep for this," said Kramer, who spent two days in bed before the event. "It's just not in my nature to lose."

Mathieu Giroux of Pointe-aux-Trembles, Que., was 16th in 6:32.58 while Lucas Makowsky of Regina was 17th in 6:33.05.

Joji Kato of Japan was the only man to skate under 35 seconds in the 500, winning in 34.98. Dutch skater Jan Smeekens was second, followed by Lee Kang-seok of South Korea.

Jamie Gregg of Edmonton was seventh in 35.27.