A new unofficial course record for the 180 km distance from Mora to Sälen and back has now been set by Teemu Virtanen, former 24 hour Nordic Skiing World Record holder and Content Director of Visma Ski Classics. The record time is 9:42:46.
The day was sunny but extremely windy, but the tracks stayed in great shape throughout the event except a small snowfall about 30 km before the finish.
“I had a good day today,”Teemu says at the finish. “But it was really hard to ski alone for 170 km. I’ve got the three-time Vasaloppet winner Daniel Tynell at the end and he pushed me from Eldris to Mora. I started fast, but the course is so much more challenging the other way, from Mora to Sälen, and gusty winds made it hard.”
Teemu was aiming at a finishing time around 9 hours and 30 minutes, but there were some minor challenging on the way.
“After Oxberg on my way back, it started to snow and my skis got so slow. But luckily it didn’t last long, and when I passed Högberg, I was ready to rock’n’roll again. I knew that I had a chance to get close to the magical 9.5 hour mark, but the wind and snowfall killed it for me today. Regardless, I’m really happy for my performance. Now it’s time to put my focus on Vasaloppet and creating great content for all cross-country ski lovers.”
Read a special article about Teemu’s performance tomorrow and stay tuned for lots of exciting Vasaloppet content on Visma Ski Classics social media sites!
