It was Edvin Anger and Austrian Mika Vermeulen who added color to the 2-mile freestyle race, the men's skiers' final competition during the World Cup's opening weekend in Ruka.
Anger and Vermeulen pulled away a gap of 13 seconds, not entirely according to plan.
I was hanging out with Mika, he was lively and then, first of all, I didn't think we had hit it when we had hit it. That's when you notice that things are going well, Anger tells Viaplay.
I was very fresh and I never really felt numb until the last lap when we started to accelerate.
Captured by Norwegians
With four kilometers to go, the group behind started to close the gap. With just over a kilometer to go, the close duo was caught by three Norwegians, but not star Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.
It was a long sprint for victory, and Anger was not quite enough against Amundsen and Hedegart. But he secured a podium finish, the second of his career in a distance race for the 23-year-old Swede. Anger crossed the finish line 2.3 seconds behind the victorious Amundsen.
For Anger, it was a nice testament to what he is capable of, after leaving the opening two races disappointed after a ninth place in the mile race and a quarter-final finish in the sprint.
"I was eager to do something after two miserable races," says the Swede.
It was close to lasting the entire journey, just a few more seconds (in the gap) and we would have lasted the entire journey.
Klæbo cursed
Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget finished fourth and Vermeulen fifth, both clearly behind Anger at the finish.
Klæbo had to settle for 15th place and was both speechless and angry when he met Norwegian Viaplay after the race.
Johan Ekberg, 21st, was the second best of the Swedish riders and had Gustaf Berglund, 23rd, just behind him at the finish.
Part of the post-race talk in Ruka, Finland, was about the icy track, which some skiers said was too dangerous.
"These are unworthy conditions for a competition. It's life-threatening. We're going down in 80 knots in the downhills," says Norwegian skier Mattis Stenshagen to Expressen.
I just had to keep my fingers crossed and go. I would really like to have a helmet.
