He drew on his reserves and constantly kept pace with the leading group, but finished 26e of the 20 kilometer freestyle mass start of the Falun Cross-Country Skiing World Cup on Sunday in Sweden, Antoine Cyr achieved his goal of ending the season in the top ten of the final circuit rankings.
Under a blue sky and a radiant sun, the Gatineau resident worked hard to concede only 44.4 seconds to the winner Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo who led Norway to a sweep of the podium with the second and third places of Gjoeran Tefre (+0, 4 s) and Martin Loewstroem (+2.2 s)
“The objective has been achieved and I am super happy with tenth position overall. It’s fantastic ! » said the Quebecer. “I held on as hard as possible, but it was a pretty difficult race. It wasn’t my best, but 26e, it’s not bad either. »
Cyr ends his season with 1095 points, 63 more than his closest rival, Swede Jens Burman, eighth in Sunday’s race. Despite his victory today, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo was not able to dethrone his compatriot Harald Oestberg Amundsen who won the big crystal globe.
The day before, after his 11e place for the classic 10 kilometers, Cyr had moved from 11e at 10eplace in the provisional general classification 2023-2024.
” The last [Canadiens] who finished in the top ten in the rankings were Alex [Harvey] and Devon [Kershaw]. So it almost tastes like a victory for Canadian cross-country skiing. It’s been a tough season with lots of ups and downs. I’m super happy for the team and they deserve it a lot. I’m happy to give this to him today [dimanche] », continued the 25-year-old athlete who constantly recalled the work of those around him behind this result in his interview with Sportcom.
And it is for this reason that it was with his close collaborators that he celebrated Sunday evening.
It takes a village to raise a champion and it’s a beautiful gift I can give them.
Antoine Cyr
For the future, Cyr knows what he wants: “A first podium in the World Cup wouldn’t be worse, but we will continue to work on it and I am sure that it will be achievable in the coming years. »
Earlier in the morning, Liliane Gagnon, from Saint-Ferréol-les-Neiges, ranked 53e on this same route. She finished almost 4 and a half minutes behind the winner, the American Jessica Diggins who concluded the season with the crystal globe of the cumulative ranking, as well as that of the distance events.
At the finish line, Diggins beat Norwegians Heidi Weng and Anne Kjersti Kalvaa.