Belgian runners @ WC 3 and 4

Yesterday and today the 3rd and 4th world cup races take place in Norway. Also 3 Belgian runners are present: Fabien Pasquasy, Thomas van der Kleij and Vinciane Mulpas.

We had a phone call with Thomas (who lived in Norway for 1 year when he was 18 years old) last weekend and he told us about his ambitions:
'I have seen the startlist and a lot of strong runners will be present, no pancakes (weak runners) at the startline! Compared with the previous world cup races in Finland, i feel physically much stronger now. I have the impression that i'm getting in good shape again. So hopefully the results improve, compared to WC round 1 and 2.'

Middle Distance:
The middle distance took place in a technical and tricky area. So in mens class, it was no surprise that Peter Oberg was on top again. Surprisingly he had to share his victory with homerunner Carl Waaler Kaas. They ran exactly the same time. An other Norwegian runner, Anders Nordberg, became 3rd.

Men:
1. Kaas, Carl Waaler Norway 35:31 + 00:00
1. Öberg, Peter Sweden 35:31 + 00:00
3. Nordberg, Anders Norway 35:52 + 00:21
4. Wingstedt, Emil Sweden 36:09 + 00:38
5. Gueorgiou, Thierry France 36:14 + 00:43
6. Andersson, David Sweden 36:40 + 01:09
64. Pasquasy, Fabien Belgium 45:45 + 10:14
69. Van Der Kleij, Thomas Belgium 46:51 + 11:20

If we take a look at the results, both Belgian runners ran a decent race. They succeeded beating some strong runners (Sirmais, Lehto, Duncan, Bertuks,...). But despite their nice results, Thomas wasn't happy about his race. Afterwards he told us: 'In total i lost 3 minutes because of making mistakes. Also physically i'm not satisfied, i had the feeling that i was runnig very slow'.
Also Fabien Pasquasy already analysed his race, you can read his trainingslog (in French). His conclusion: he was happy about the start of the race, but at the 8th control he lost 4 minutes. In the end he lost 7'45 (during his whole race). But he likes the Norwegian terrain very much.

Map (Oystein Kvaal Osterbo)

In womens class Minna Kauppi took the victory, she was faster than Marianne Andersen and Helena Jansson. Vinciane Mulpas finished in 62th position.

Women:
1. Kauppi, Minna Finland 34:34 + 00:00
2. Andersen, Marianne Norway 35:21 + 00:47
3. Jansson, Helena Sweden 36:32 + 01:58
4. Niggli, Simone Switzerland 36:50 + 02:16
5. Johansson, Emma Sweden 37:12 + 02:38
6. Holmström, Bodil Finland 37:18 + 02:44
62. Mulpas,Vinciane Belgium 59:41 + 25:07

Long distance:
Today (this afternoon) the long distance will take place and it's a chasestart. So Peter Oberg and Carl Waaler Kaas will start together, both in the lead. Fabien Pasquasy will start in 64th position, just behind Christian Christensen (Denmark) and Jörgen Wickholm (Finland).
Thomas van der Kleij will start 1 minute behind Fabien and only 1 second behind Rasmus Soes. Martian Sirmais, a very strong runner from Latvia, starts only 9 seconds behind Thomas.

In womens class, Vinciane Mulpas will start in 162th position, 23 minutes behind the winner (Kauppi). But Vinciane is not in the real chasestart anymore, because she was more than 20 minutes slower than Kauppi yesterday.

Results Middle distance
Startlist Long distance
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