Canadian cross-country skiers had a difficult start to competition on Friday at the Cross Country World Cup in Canmore, Alberta. In both the men's and women's races, the Maple Leaf representatives crossed the finish line well behind the cross-country skiers, who climbed onto the podium in the 15 km mass start
In the men's race we were able to record a Norwegian double victory, as Simen Hegstad Krueger finished the ride in 36 minutes, 6 seconds and 5/10, just ahead of his compatriot Harald Oestberg Amundsen (36:16.3).
Austrian Mika Vermeulen (36:16.8) was the runner on the final step of the podium after finishing his race just half a second behind Amundsen.
For his part, Quebec's Antoine Cyr, 16th in the overall World Cup standings, showed a performance below his own standards and had to settle for 37th place.
I don't want to hide it from you, I'm not taking part in the World Championships to finish 37th. It really wasn't a good day. It's disappointing to come here and perform so sub-parly
he confided resignedly.
In the good news, Samuel Gary Hendry was the top Canadian in the race with a time of 37:32.4, finishing 30th.
It's my first time in the top 30 and I really didn't expect this result today. Being here at home and being able to run a race at home is very special
said the 24-year-old cross-country skier happily.
Among the women, American Jessie Diggins (40:26) was the fastest. The French Claudel Delphine (40:28.6) and the Norwegian Heidi Weng (40:29.3) accompanied her on the podium.
Five Canadians took part in the race, but none of them did better than Anna Parent's 41st place finish (45:50.2). It should be noted that Katherine Stewart-Jones and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt were ultimately not on the starting line.
Nordiq Canada athletes will have the opportunity to recover during the freestyle sprint event on Saturday.
With information from Patrick Henri
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