The Russian skier was furious about his skis in the 15-kilometer skate at the World Cup in Lillehammer  “With this material it was impossible to do well” Alexander Bolshunov, who was only 14th in the 15-kilometer skate race at the World Cup in Lillehammer on Saturday, admitted he didn’t have the “weapons” to fight with…

The Russian skier was furious about his skis in the 15-kilometer skate at the World Cup in Lillehammer 

“With this material it was impossible to do well”

Alexander Bolshunov, who was only 14th in the 15-kilometer skate race at the World Cup in Lillehammer on Saturday, admitted he didn’t have the “weapons” to fight with the Norwegians.  

With bib number 70, Bolshunov had the advantage of starting after his rivals in this 15km, and could manage his race based on the splits and lap times of his competitors.

At the first split, the current overall World Cup leader was in the game. He seemed capable of pulling off another great race. But soon it became evident that his equipment was not going keep up, and Bolshunov realized it right away.

“Everything was going well, but after a few minutes I quickly realized that I did not have the skis to win. As the laps went on, I had to push harder and harder while the others outglided me. It was particularly evident on the descents,” Bolshunov said to Ski Nordique.

“On the first two laps, it was still going but after that, as I lost second upon second, it was no longer possible to pull off a decent result. With this material it was impossible to do well,” he said.