While the Madshus racers narrowly missed the podium this weekend, both seasoned and rookie World Cup skiers deliver encouraging results in Lillehammer (NOR).
Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN) opened the second World Cup weekend this season 11 seconds from the podium: She was fourth in the 7.5km+7.5km skiathlon on Saturday.
Turbo junior Helene Marie Fossesholm, who was on the podium in both the distance races at the FIS season opener in Beitostølen (NOR) two weeks ago, was 18th in her first-ever World Cup race – despite starting far back in the mass start event. Fellow Madshus World Cup rookies Tiril Liverud Knudsen, Karoline Simpson-Larsen and Johanne Harviken also delivered strong performances on the steep, technical and challenging course in Lillehammer.
Also worth noting: Vebjørn Turtveit (NOR) was 12th in the men’s 15km+15km skiathlon on Saturday, his second best ever at in an individual race at the World Cup level.
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On Sunday, Turtveit was a tenth of a second from his first ever World Cup podium as he anchored Norway’s Team 2 to fourth place in the men’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay.
“Going into the race, the plan was to just maintain an even pace in order to avoid giving away a single second to the Russians, but when they surg
ed toward the end, I just tried to hang on the best I could. It was a really hard race, but it was such a bonus to be given the opportunity to ski the relay in addition to the skiathlon,” Turtveit said after the race.
Earlier on Sunday, Pärmäkoski anchored Finland to fourth place in the women’s 4×5-kilometer relay. 18-year-old Fossesholm skied the second leg for Norway’s team 2, helping her team to fifth place in her second World Cup competition.
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