Iivo Niskanen Surprised by His Performance - Gave Promising Comments on His Condition

Iivo Niskanen returned to the World Cup competitions after a period of illness. The men's 10 km freestyle interval start race was very fast-paced, with the reigning world champion and race favorite, Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krüger, finishing fourth.

Before him, the last podium position was secured by the USA's Ben Ogden, marking his first podium finish in a classic distance event, having previously achieved a third-place in sprint events.

Norway took a double victory with Iver Tildheim Andersen winning and Pål Golberg finishing second. The track was extremely fast, with Andersen's winning time clocked at 19:50.

Among Finnish competitors, Arsi Ruuskanen finished best in 18th place, 48 seconds behind the winner, while Niskanen placed 19th.

Niskanen started sharply, being among the top ten early on, but began to fade towards the end. He expressed that he was satisfied with his performance despite losing 49 seconds to Andersen.

"I started quite well. It was pretty good skiing. The last freestyle race was in Lillehammer, so my muscles weren't ready. My body didn't feel great, but I expect to feel better tomorrow.

It was a better feeling than I anticipated. As I get more freestyle races under my belt, I believe I will improve."

Niskanen will compete again this Sunday in Les Rousses, when the 20 km classic mass start races take place, although he does not expect to excel in the terrain here. He commented, "The margins are small, so it will be tight, and we’ll be pushing until the end as a group, but it's still nice to race after getting one race under my belt."

Overall, Niskanen maintains a positive outlook following this latest race.