Ville Ahonen won the Rovaniemi Finnish Cup 2023, Markus Vuorela was disappointed

– It tastes good. I definitely had a more slippery ski for the sun. I was able to take advantage of what was in the skid.

This is how Imatra’s Athletes bundled up Ville Ahonen, 28, after the first individual Finnish Cup competition victory of his career on Sunday in Rovaniemi. The men skied 30 kilometers in a traditional mass start.

Ahonen was already on the ropes during the race, but with his slippery Atomic transparents, he fell to the top Markus Vuorelan26, repeatedly caught.

In the end of the stadium area, Ahonen decided the game.

– I was close to dropping the last three 3.75 kilometer laps when “Make” pulled the line so straight. I got the advantage of the lower one and stayed with it. I was always able to relax a little at the end of the uphill and catch up.

Vuorela was also chasing the first personal Finnish Cup victory of his career. He did the work, broke the main pack, but was not rewarded for his toil.

– Yes, it’s sad. I thought that the opening win would come today, Vuorela commented.

What do you think of Ahonen’s assessment that he had more slippery skis?

– This time I did. Sometimes Atomic also slips, Vuorela, who competes on yellow and black skis of the Austrian brand, confirmed it.

– I thought that in the last two laps I would get a break, but still not enough. There were quite a few playing cards to the end: when Ville and I came to the hill, there was no place to be done. I don’t know if it would have helped even if I had gone on layoff earlier, he added.

A bunch of Finland’s top skiers were missing from Sunday’s competition: Iivo Niskanen, Cross mat Hakola, Perttu Hyvärinen and Remi Lindholm. The young talents were gone Niko Anttola and Arsi Ruuskanen.

Planica’s sharpener

Ahonen, who operates under the radar of the large skiing public, was responsible for one of the best Finnish performances at the World Championships in Planica, when he was tenth in the traditional sprint.

– Jumping the rim, I got to Planica and had a good success there. The traditional sprint will continue to be the main distance, Ahonen estimates.

Like many other Finnish skiers, he suffered from health problems during the 2022–23 season. In November, I got the usual flu and at the Tour de Ski I got corona.

– I was very careful during the corona period. It took two years that I hardly got sick. Then the cycle began. Although I myself was careful, there must have been diseases around. It has been difficult because of the diseases, said the skier, who lives under the same roof with his spouse.

That’s what they say, as a tip for maximum health safety, an athlete should live alone and avoid all possible contact.

– That’s the way it is, that every contact is a certain kind of risk. But you can’t live life without contacts.

The 2022–23 season was the first in the A national team for the fairly experienced skier.

– Group training gave me more kick, because new stimuli are always good.

The main pot for Lepistö

Lauri Lepistö sealed the overall victory of the Finnish Cup on Sunday. First place was 99% certain even before the final stage.

Lepistö received 5,000 euros in prize money for his hard work.

– That was one goal. Good money, Lepistö commented two weeks ago at the Skiing Championships in Inari.

Joni Mäki was the runner-up in the Cup. 3,000 euros slipped into his pocket.

Ahonen was third and won 2,000 euros.