Paul Murray finished 69th today in the classic sprint World Cup in Kuusamo in Finland. In the 1.2km time trial Murray was 9.5 seconds behind the fastest qualifier Bjorn Lind from Sweden and 5 seconds outside of his goal of qualifying for the finals. After the race Murray was initially disappointed not to be in the finals but then realistic about his performance considering his illness at the start of the week. Though he worked hard throughout the race it was apparent that his top gear was lacking and he was tired over the last hill and into the final straight. To be still so close to the top skiers after only a couple of days on snow after illness bodes well for the rest of the season, assuming of course that he can stay healthy and go into some races in good shape. Full results

The original plan was for Murray to race tomorrow in the 15km classic event however while he was able to dig deep or a reasonable sprint race today it makes no sense for him to attempt a tough 15km World Cup event with this preparation. Murray will head to his Swedish training base in Borlange on Monday and try to put three weeks of good training under his belt before the China Tour de Ski at the end of December.

Courtesy XC Files