William Poromaa finished in 20th place, 1 minute and 16 seconds behind the winner Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget. Despite this, Poromaa was clearly the best of the Swedish skiers, who all had 10 tough kilometers in the tracks.
It was terrible. I couldn't ski for five öre today, says the 33rd-placed Calle Halfvarsson, 1.45 behind, to Viaplay.
Poromaa was beaten by no less than ten Norwegians – out of twelve who started.
The feeling was actually good, I was better mentally than in Ruka (World Cup premiere). But the result is still not good, says Poromaa to Viaplay.
It's too bad. It's no fun to compete when it feels like this.
Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget took home the victory through a strong finish, and was followed closely by five compatriots. Simen Hegstad Krüger became second, 4.1 seconds behind, and Harald Østberg Amundsen became third, 7.8 seconds behind.
Iver Tildheim Andersen, Andreas Fjorden Ree, and Mattis Stenhagen also placed in the top six, and two more Norwegians – Einar Hedegart and Pål Golberg – made it into the top ten. The German Friedrich Moch (7th) and Austria's Mika Vermeulen (9th) saw to it that the home dominance was somewhat diluted.
Last weekend, the Norwegian men took five out of six podium places in the two distance events.
The next chance to beat the Norwegians comes on Sunday, when there will be a skiathlon in Lillehammer. Before that, there is a sprint on the schedule for Saturday.
