It was a beautiful sunny day here, with perfect winter conditions at minus 4 C, although the snow temperature was colder. I had bib 20, so was looking to move up off the start. As I reached the end of the starting grid, I had no room to skate so I kept double poling. Eventually, I was able to skate a bit, but I was actually further back in the field than my start position. I managed to get over to the right side of the trail where there was a bit of room, but I ended up skiing over top of the classic track for most of the first 5k lap. By the end of the lap, I was roughly in 20th.
Next up was 2 loops of 7.5k. On the second lap, I used the climbs on the way to the top of the course to establish myself in the lead pack, about 15 strong mid way through the race. At one point, I may have been as high as 6th, but guys were constantly jockeying for position and I got shuffled back again. I remained with the lead pack, which had been whittled down to just 10 after the longest climbing section on the course. On the next uphill, Alex Harvey made a move at the front and I got detached from the others. I kept pushing as hard as I could, but first 3 guys passed me and then another. One more guy followed me into the stadium and blew by going into the finish. So I still didn't have the acceleration in the last few kilometers, but overall it was a good result taking into account my tough start.
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