Humiliation for Remi Lindholm

A free 15-kilometer joint start on a clear and rather challenging course should be the hardest-working trainee in Finland Remi Lindholm remember, but the end result on Friday at the Canmore World Cup in Canada was a humiliation.

Lindholm finished in 40th place and lost to the winner of the race Simen for Krüger no less than 2.29,3.

The Imatra athlete fell ill with a fever a couple of weeks ago. He had to sit out the other weekend’s Goms World Cup.

– Almost a week passed half-heartedly, when I only went jogging a little. I was completely at rest for a couple of days. Then it was necessary to get going, when you can’t just rest and come straight to the games, Lindholm said last Saturday at the Vantaa WC qualifiers.

Last Saturday at the Hakunila sports park, he fell short of the winner in the traditional 20 km split start Cross mat for Hakola 2.03,4.

With the weak result, there was a rather big question mark as to whether the Finn should go behind the nine-hour time difference to the competition gig at 1,500 meters above sea level in Canmore.

– Yes, I’m going there, Lindholm announced.

At the beginning of the season, in the 20 km free mass start of the Ruka World Cup, Lindholm was twelfth.

Krüger’s show

Friday’s competition was very entertaining to begin with. of Austria Mika Vermeulen jerked away in the second 3.75 kilometer lap. The man from Alppimaa was caught by the beginning of the third round, until Simen Krüger’s show started.

The world’s best wassberg skier made a breakaway at the beginning of the third round and knocked the others off their heels. The Norwegian took an overwhelming victory. Accelerated to second place in the race Harald Amundsen beat his compatriot by 9.8 seconds. Vermeulen took third place (+10.8). The podium place was the first for Austrian men this decade.

– Almost a perfect race for me. To be honest, it took a toll when the competition format changed. My chance to win was to get enough distance from the others before the scrambling and I got enough of that, the Norwegian said in the winner’s interview.

Perttu Hyvärinen hung in the so-called main group that came behind Krüger until the last kilometers. A slight dip at the end, but with a great place in the tenth finish (+31.1).

Of the five Finnish men selected for the North American competition tour Joni Mäki, Lauri Vuorinen and Niilo Moilanen did not compete on Friday. They will focus on Saturday’s free sprint.

The last time the mc tour was contested in Canmore was in 2016. The skiing of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics was held in Canmore.

In Canada, the program was supposed to include a 10 km free split start race on Friday, but due to timing device problems, the distance was extended by five kilometers and it was changed to a joint start.