Madshus racers Maria Strøm Nakstad (NOR) won the women’s 45K skate race Friday as she outsprinted competitors Karie Eie (NOR) and Natascia Leonardi (SUI) for the overall victory. Ole Marius Bach (NOR) outsprinted Anders Tettli Rennemo (NOR) and Daniel Myrmalm Helgestad (NOR) by one second in the men’s 45km.
Nakstad finished the 45K skate race in 1:48:00, while both Eie and Leonardi clocked in at 1:48:02. Bach won in 1:39:55, with Rennemo and Helgestad both posting 1:39:56.
“At the start, there were both recreational skiers and racers in the top field, so the pace wasn’t super fast and I was just hanging in there waiting for a chance to sprint,” Bach said after his race.
Low overnight temperatures combined with high daytime temperatures made for rock hard icy tracks. While that makes the course fast, it also makes for a challenging ride.
“I thought it would be quite easy today, but it was actually quite hard,” Nakstad said after her race.
Nakstad normally skis 5Km and 10Km races, and was never sure she would actually win SkejtVasan.
“I was sitting back drafting a lot until we had only a couple of kilometers to go. It was awesome to feel that I still had enough speed left in my legs,” she said, noting that 45km definitely felt longer than what she’s used to.
This was the last time SkejtVasan will be part of the Vasaloppets Vintervecka event lineup. Starting 2013, there will be no freestyle race in the week of Vasaloppet events.