Antoine Cyr distinguished himself in the classic sprint contested on Friday at the World Cup in Val di Fiemme, Italy, by finding himself in the grand final. The Quebecer finally finished sixth, 2.99 s behind the winner, the Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo.
“It’s been a great day from qualifying to the final. This is by far my best result in my career! A sprint is special since you have to do several races in the same day and you always have to be among the first. There are no words to describe how I feel,” said Antoine Cyr in an interview with Sportcom.
“I had a feeling that everything would be fine today (Friday). It’s a course that suited me well, just like the classic style. Realistically, I didn’t expect to make a final, but I gave everything to get there. This result would not have been possible without my training mates, the coaches and our technicians who are doing an incredible job,” he added.
In qualifying at the start of the day, Cyr was ranked 17e to secure their place in the quarter-finals. The 24-year-old athlete then seized the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of his talent. He finished first in his heat, just ahead of Norwegian Emil Iversen.
During the semi-finals, Cyr had to draw on his energy reserves to get his ticket to the final. In the last meters of the race, he made a big push to catch the American James Clinton Schoonmaker who was second, the last rank giving access to the next lap.
“I had the same strategy in the quarter-finals and in the semi-finals, I didn’t want to be ahead in the final. I had a little something today that allowed me to find good ends of races. »
The final was dominated by Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, victorious at every stage since the start of the Tour de Ski. He was accompanied on the podium by the Swede Calle Halfvarsson (+0.26 seconds) and by the Italian Simone Mocellini (+0.94 seconds).
For his part, Olivier Léveillé was unable to advance to the quarter-finals after his 40e qualifying spot.
Klaebo obviously sits at the top of the provisional general classification of the Tour de Ski with two more stages to go. With his performance of the day, Antoine Cyr climbs from 17e at 11e rank in this ranking. Olivier Léveillé is 33e.
“I’m really happy with my place in the general classification right now, but there are two important steps left. Several things can happen, I keep my head up and if I am able to finish in the top 20I will be very satisfied,” said Cyr.
On the women’s side, Katherine Stewart-Jones also secured her place in the quarterfinals by placing 28e in qualifying at the start of the day.
However, her work day came to a halt in this heat as she finished sixth (+4.01 seconds) in her heat and was unable to earn her bye to the semis.
“It was a great day and it was an interesting course for me. I felt good at the start of the day, but I lacked energy at the end of the race. I wanted to qualify for the quarter-finals, it was a good goal. I didn’t have big expectations afterwards, I wanted to do my best,” commented Stewart-Jones.
The final was the affair of the Norwegian twins Lotta and Tiril Udnes Weng. With a 0.35 second lead, it was Lotta who had the upper hand over her sister who took the silver medal. Their compatriot Mathilde Myhrvold accompanied them on the podium.
Katherine Stewart-Jones gains three places in the provisional general classification and is now in 20e rung. Sweden’s Frida Karlsson is still first.
“I’m really happy to be back in the top 20there are two distance races left which are likely to be quite difficult, but I am sure that I will be able to gain a few places, and perhaps make it to the top 15. »
The Val di Fiemme World Cup continues on Saturday with the presentation of the classic 15 kilometer mass start events.