Cross-country skiing

Vermeulen narrowly misses out on the podium at the end

Mika Vermeulen completed his best season to date in the Cross-Country World Cup on Sunday in Falun with a strong fifth place in the 20 km skating mass start.

The 24-year-old Styrian finished just four seconds behind winner Johannes Hösflot Kläbo and 1.8 seconds off the podium. Teresa Stadlober finished 14th over the same distance. The overall World Cup victories were secured by Jessica Diggins from the USA and Harald Östberg Amundsen from Norway for the first time.

Vermeulen ran a courageous race and took the next top result after sixth place the day before in the 10 km classic. The man from Ramsau, whose parents are from the Netherlands, finished seventh in the overall World Cup as the second best non-Norwegian behind the German Friedrich Moch.

Crowning glory of the season
In the distance World Cup, only Norwegians were better than the fifth-placed Austrian. The highlight of the season for Vermeulen was his first podium finish as third in Canmore in February. He also came fourth twice in mass skating starts.

"This fifth place actually crowns a top season in which everything worked out the way I wanted it to," said Vermeulen. "And maybe next year there will be a win in the mix." Kläbo landed his 16th of the season, leading a Norwegian one-two-three. However, the top star was unable to catch his compatriot Amundsen in the overall World Cup after missing the Tour de Ski due to illness.