Antoine Cyr Strides to 20th at Cross-Country Skiing World Cup Finals in Sweden
FALUN, Swe.—Canada’s Antoine Cyr kicked off the final weekend of the World Cup season with a solid 20th-place finish in the men’s 10-kilometre individual start classic-ski race in Falun, Sweden on Friday.
The 24-year-old, who is regularly in the elite group of 20 and has a trio of top-10 finishes this season, posted a time of 25:08.8.
“It was tricky conditions this morning. There was a little snowstorm moving into Falun, and with warmer weather it is always a classic nightmare,” said Cyr. “The wax techs did a great job to get us the best skis as possible. I had a great race, and could go really deep into my effort so coming out with a top-20 is good.”
The Gatineau, Que. product was pushing a top-10 pace until midway through his three laps.
“On a 10km you have to go hard from the gun. If you are not in the game in the first few kilometres you can forget the good result. It was tough racing by the end, and I may have lost a few spots but I’m happy with the result.
The Norwegians swept the men’s podium. Johannes Klaebo clocked the top time at 23:55.3. Martin Nyenget skied to a second-place time of 24:06.0, while Harald Amundsen claimed the bronze medal at 24:16.0.
Olivier Léveillé (Sherbrooke, Que.) skied to 37th place with a time of 25:44.4. Xavier McKeever (Canmore, Alta.) was 47th at 26:13.9 while Russell Kennedy (Canmore, Alta.) placed 48th at 26:23.6.
Katherine Stewart-Jones (Chelsea, Que.) was the lone Canadian in the women’s race where she finished 40th at 29:45.9.
Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen skied to the top of the women’s podium with a time of 27:08.5.
The World Cup continues on Saturday with the skate-ski sprint races.