The Quebec cross-country skiers concluded their first event of the season in qualifying for the classic sprint presented on Friday at the World Cup in Ruka, Finland. With the best Canadian result of the day, Antoine Cyr was only 0.12 seconds from reaching the playoffs.
In the end, the Gatineau athlete ranked 32e with a stopwatch of 2 min 39, 28 s.
“It’s fun to get back to competition after a long summer of training. I am a little bitter that I came so close to moving on to the next rounds. It’s disappointing, although I know that at the end of the line 32e it’s excellent, especially for the first race of the season, ”he mentioned in an interview with Sportcom.
Gleb Retivykh of Russia crossed the finish line just in front of the Quebecer to capture the 30e and last place leading to the next round.
Also in action, Olivier Léveillé finished 58e due to a time of 2 min 42.99 s.
Russian Alexander Terentev (2:31, 90) was the fastest in the final to win the gold medal. Norwegians Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (+1.18 seconds) and Erik Valnes (+2.13 seconds) climbed to the second and third steps of the podium.
For her part, Katherine Stewart-Jones was the only Canadian representative in the women’s event. Like Léveillé, she took the 58e rank of qualifications. The Chelsea cross-country skier posted a time of 3:13.87.
“I felt a bit sleepy and didn’t have the right speed,” said Stewart-Jones after the race. “It wasn’t my best race, but it’s been good to start the season and I’m looking forward to both distance races on Saturday and Sunday. “
Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist (3:01:81) won the gold medal, beating compatriot Johanna Hagstroem (+1.77 seconds) in the final. Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (+2.02 seconds) was third.
The Ruka World Cup resumes on Saturday with the classic 15 km for men and 10 km for women.