For a long, long time, the Swedish cross-country star stood doubled over and tried to catch his breath after Saturday's sprint qualifying. The fifth and penultimate stage of the Tour de Ski in Italy ended for William Poromaa, who finished 48th and was eliminated.
Above all, he wanted to avoid coughing. Poromaa hurt himself in a fall at the end of the previous stage in Toblach and suspects it may be a cracked rib.
I feel it when I'm racing. But it's worst now that I've crossed the finish line and have to cough. When it hits you, you just want to disappear. So I just try to keep myself from coughing, says Poromaa.
Heavy season
Will he even race the final stage, Sunday's tough climb up Alpe Cermis? Maybe, maybe not, he says.
What is clear is that neither the tour nor the season as a whole has gone according to plan for the 25-year-old who took World Championship silver in the five-mile last year.
At best, he has a 23rd place in the World Cup, in the same race where he injured his rib on New Year's Day.
It's been bad, a boring season with bad results and a body that hasn't responded the way I wanted. I don't know what it is. I've thought about it a lot. But I think you have to sit down after the season and think a little bit about where it went wrong.
Same as last year
He can't give up now, though. The big goal of the winter is just a month away: the Olympics, right here in Val di Fiemme.
And maybe he's on the right track. Because it wasn't just rib pain he felt after that 23rd place the other day.
I was able to push in a way that I haven't been able to all season. And I didn't do a good Tour de Ski last year either, it was more like this. Everything was so damn hard.
And the goal has always been the Olympics, that's where I want to go fast.
