Results of the last stage of the 9th season of the Brazilian rollerski circuit, where Bruna was - for the first time - not the winner in the women's category. She won the first season, tied with Gabi Neres, and won the 7 next seasons. Obviously she didn't compete this year.
https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/event-details.html?sectorcode=CC&eventid=51368&seasoncode=2023
Some good observations:
- First ever win for young Wilbert Rodrigues, a seriously impressive skier to watch.
- Good amount of new young girls joining the FIS races, one or two of whom seem to be pretty promising for the next few years. They're 15 now, so plenty of time to grow, but boy does their technique look better than the 15-year olds of a few years ago!
- The skiathlon, a rarity in the Brazilian circuit. Didn't catch the men's race, but I heard it was a really nice sprint finish. The women's race started with Gabi having the race of her life, gaining over half a minute in the 5k classic part - 10 seconds in the ski exchange alone. Awesome to finally see her start all-in, even though Mika Picin unsurprisingly caught up to her and clearly beat her in the freestyle part. Especially for the youngest girls, 10k is quite a new experience, and unlike the other races, which were at 08.30 or so, this race started at 10.40 in the morning, when it was already seriously burning hot. One of the young girls apparently fainted on the top of a climb, but got back up, finished the race and collapsed again right after the finish. The stand-by ambulance rushed to the finish line, and a little bit later she was transported off to the hospital. Last I heard is that she was doing relatively alright, so that's good.
Apart from being sick in the first days, it was fun to watch a stage again after three years