Swedish cross-country star William Poromaa was unrecognizable in the first distance race of the season, Saturday's 10 kilometer classic, during the Swedish premiere in Gällivare.
On Sunday, perhaps the explanation came. The 24-year-old, World Championship silver medalist in the five-mile last winter, woke up feeling unwell and therefore chose to withdraw from Sunday's final 10-kilometer freestyle race.
He called in the morning and almost had a slight fever, he slept very poorly. So there was something. He decided pretty straight away that it was not an option to compete, says father Larry Poromaa to SVT.
He is certain that his son's 19th place on Saturday, well over a minute behind winner Edvin Anger, was related to the crash.
Yes, I'm pretty sure of that. Yesterday wasn't normal.
Larry Poromaa also believes that this will force William Poromaa to skip the World Cup premiere in Ruka, Finland next weekend.
It's Sunday today and Ruka is on Friday. So it's unthinkable to go to Ruka, I think.
Edvin Anger also chose to skip Sunday's 10 km freestyle in Gällivare. The same applied to 19-year-old Alvar Myhlback, who came third on Saturday, among others.
With the biggest names out of the running, IFK Mora rider Johan Ekberg took the win after an impressive performance. The 25-year-old was joined on the podium by more established names Leo Johansson (+12.3) and Gustaf Berglund (+20.7).
Veterans Calle Halfvarsson (+1.21) and Jens Burman (+1.27) had a tough day on the track, just like on Saturday.
