OSLO, Norway (March 16) - Noah Hoffman (Aspen, CO) led the U.S. Ski Team finishing 24th in the 50k freestyle mass start race at Holmenkollen in Oslo. Hoffman covered the 50k in two hours, 11 minutes, 25.8 seconds - about four minutes behind Russia's Alexander Legkov. Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby was 3.2 seconds back in second. The women race a 30k on Sunday before the World Cup heads to Sweden for a final mini-tour as the season finale.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Noah Hoffman (Aspen, CO) was 24th in the Holmenkollen 50k freestyle mass start behind winner Alexander Legkov.
- Kris Freeman (Andover, NH) was 36th.
- It was a strong finish for Hoffman and boosted him into the top 50 for the season, qualifying him to compete in World Cup Finals next week in Sweden.
- Hoffman worked strategically at picking up sprint bonus points in the early laps to gain valuable World Cup points.
- The World Cup wraps up with a mini-tour stage race in Sweden starting with a classic sprint in Stockholm Wednesday and finishing with distance racing in Falun, site of the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.
QUOTES
Noah Hoffman
I am psyched to be headed to World Cup Finals instead of the original plan of going home tomorrow. Today’s race was hard. I felt that the pace was high from the beginning. It is definitely easier in a World Cup mass start to take points at the intermediate sprints than it is at the finish. My plan was to be patient and wait for later in the race to worry about the sprints, but I found myself near the front on the lead-up to the first sprint. I did the same on the next two laps before fading from the lead of the group. I am happy to have skied back up to 24th after falling to 39th after the third ski exchange. I am happy with my fitness and energy and am looking forward to the races this coming weekend.
Chris Grover, Cross Country Head Coach
Big day for Noah Hoffman. He needed some points in order to move into the World Cup top 50 and make the World Cup Finals. So he set out on a mission to grab those sprint bonus points and he did it, going through the bonus in fourth, fourth, and sixth on the first 3 laps. Now he is 47th overall and headed to Sweden for finals. He continues to demonstrate that he can ski with the best men in the World, and each race he gets a bit more comfortable doing it.
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