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Cross-country news - 17/11/8 GB Cross-Country Ski Team - press release: 16/11/08 - Musgrave dominates Swedish Junior team Following yesterdays fantastic performances in Bruksvallarna, Sweden, the British team have again set new personal bests, with Andrew Musgrave winning the Junior race by a minute and finishing 10th in the Senior race. Just 12 days before Andrew Musgrave will start his first world cup competition he has shown that he is on the best form possible. Andrew started the 15km skate race at a blistering pace and no one from the Swedish Junior team could come close to matching his tempo, power and technique. He finished almost a clear minute ahead of second place skier Maciei Starega from the Polish Junior Team. To put this into perspective Andrew finished 6.8% behind the Swedish world cup team skier Anders Sodergren who has 13 world cup podiums, including 2 victories to his name. This will also be Andrew's best FIS points by far when they are confirmed in the next week. Also setting Personal bests in the Skate race were Alex Standen and Simon Platt. Alex finished 16th in age group and 15.5% off the senior winner, Simon finished 38th in age group and 26.77% from the senior winner. In the Female competition Sarah Young and Fiona Hughes also had great races setting personal bests behind such a world class field. Sarah finished 9th and Fiona finished 13th in the junior category with similar percent from the winners as yesterdays competition. Team coach Al Dargie said "Today is yet another milestone day for British Nordic skiing and gives us a pleasant confidence boost before the world cup in Kuusamo, Finland in 2 weeks time. The team has shown that the work and attention to detail over the summer training season has more than paid off. Hopefully if we can sustain these performances throughout the season we will have another fantastic season.” SnowsportGB Nordic Head coach Roy Young said "Sensational! There has been fantastic effort put into getting ready for the season by the skiers here and those back in the UK training this morning. The skiers have shown they can take on the best with confidence. Time for a smile and then back to working for the next race."
15/11/08 - British Girls shine in season opener Fiona Hughes and Sarah Young have opened the season on great form against a world class field. With the British men also ranking well at the season opener for the British team in Bruksvallarna, Sweden. The womens competition was won by Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) who finished 3rd in the World Cup last season, also amongst the top 3 finishers was Charlotte Kalla (SWE) who won last seaons Tour de Ski. Fiona skied a fantastic race finishing 17.2% off Kowalczyk and Sarah finished a little further back at 18.4% behind the Polish winner. This means that the girls will both secure their best FIS points to date when the results are loaded on to the FIS database. In their age category Fiona finished 9th and Sarah 12th which is a considerable achievement in a dominant Nordic skiing nation like Sweden. In the Men’s race the field was just as competitive however the British Men’s team did not perform to their best because of changing wax conditions. With a large senior men’s field the tracks had transformed considerably by the time the British Juniors raced around the circuit. The condition change caught the team out and the men struggled for grip for a large amount of the classic race. Despite the difficult conditions Alex Standen and Simon Platt have both scored their best FIS points to date, with Andrew Musgrave also showing he still is the lead British skier. In age group Andrew finished 8th, Alex 20th and Simon 35th a good start to the season but tomorrows Skate race looks like even more is possible. British Nordic Ski Team website
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