Perttu Hyvärinen didn’t know he was fighting for a place on the podium – “By accident, it turned out to be really great skiing for both”

Perttu Hyvärinen and Ristomatti Hakola were in a great mood in the 10 km split race. Both praised the Finnish ski service.

Perttu Hyvärinen and Cross mat at Hakola it was a great day in the men’s 10 km traditional split start race in Falun, Sweden. Hyvärinen skied handsomely to fifth place and was only four seconds behind third place.

Hakola finished in sixth place.

This is the best finish of Hyvärinen’s career in the World Cup. In 2019, he was the fifth fastest in the split times of the free pursuit race in Ruka, but was 13th in the final results.

For Hakola, the ranking was the best of his career on the normal distance of the World Cup. In the sprint, he has been fourth at best.

Hyvärinen was at a great pace from the start. He was third at the 6.3 km intermediate point and fourth about a kilometer before the finish line.

Hyvärinen was surprised after the race. Hakola left half a minute before Hyväri.

– We had such a game of cat and mouse in the race. By accident, it turned out to be really great skiing for both of them. I didn’t know along the track that it was such a tight race. This leaves a treat for the future, Hyvärinen pointed to his place on the podium.

Norway won the competition Johannes Hösflot Kläbofor whom the win was the third of the season on that trip. Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget, Harald Östberg Amundsen and Paul Golberg brought Norway a quadruple victory.

“You should be proud of Ristomatti Hakola”

Hyvärinen ended really well. He is not known for his tough ends.

– I have never skied the last kilometer so well. The maintenance was very good on the map. We worked incredibly hard with the skis before the race. It’s great that it worked out so well.

Hakola was also amazed. According to him, the trip did not seem like what it has felt like at its best.

– The intermediate times were a bit of a surprise. I have to say that we had an amazing ski today. It slipped and held. The boys had done magic again.

Kerttu Niskanen previously skied to a clear victory in the women’s corresponding distance.

– When Kepa skied so overwhelmingly, I thought that they wouldn’t put terribly bad skis under us either.

– This came out of nowhere. Of course, when one country used to be ahead (Russia), this would have been about ten.

Hakola hasn’t skied many intermediate start races recently.

– You have to push and give orders a lot. It would have been a little easier before. However, I won’t start feeling sad after a place like that. You have to be proud of Ristomatti Hakola.

Junior World Champion Niko Anttola started bravely and clocked the seventh fastest time at the first intermediate point. However, Anttola faltered during the rest of the journey and was 23rd. Markus Vuorela beat Anttola by a second and was 22nd.