January 31, 2014 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – The snow finally stopped falling, but turned to rain for the start of the Junior Men’s 10km CL + 10km FR Skiathlon race in Val di Fiemme, after having dropped 50cm of fresh stuff overnight. Waxing was difficult, with skiers choosing zeroes or hairies.

USA’s Patrick Caldwell (USA) had a super day at his first Junior Worlds, overcoming the tough conditions to finish an amazing 10th for the top North American result.

Paddy Caldwell © flyingpointroad.com

“This is my first time at World Juniors. I am very happy with the race today. I didn’t have a specific result in mind going into the race today. I am really excited to be in the top ten,” Caldwell told Trax post-race.

“The conditions didn’t really play into my strategy today. I was really confident in my skis going into the race and they were perfect all the way through. My skis were phenomenal for both classic and skate. Huge thanks to Justin Beckwith and the other wax techs,” he continued.

At the front of the race, Russians Alexey Chervotkin (RUS) and Evgeniy Vakhrushev (RUS) took the lead in the classic leg, followed by French athletes Richard Jouve (FRA) and Jules Lapierre (FRA) and then the Czech Petr Knop (CZE). Chervotkin was fastest in the exchange and from that point, the tussle began between him and the two Norwegians Eirik Sverdrup Augdal (NOR) and Johan Hoel (NOR), who sped off after the Russian.

“It has been snowing non stop since yesterday but the organizers did a fantastic job with grooming producing incredible tracks. My strategy for the classic section was to hold on and try to make up ground whenever possible. Once I got through the transition to skate skis I slowly worked my way up for the rest of the race,” explained Caldwell of his strategy.

“Starting the skate leg was really tough! It took a few kilometers to get my legs and breathing under control but after the first lap of skate I was feeling much better. For the entire skate section I was looking for opportunities to move up,” he added.

Paddy Caldwell on his way to 10th!!! © flyingpointroad.com

At the halfway point in the skating leg, after some back and forth, Chervotkin, Augdal and Hoel were again at the front of the race, while Evgeniy Grigoriev (RUS), Vakhrushev, Knop, and Olzhas Klimin (KAZ) had come back into contention.

Near the end of the third lap, Chervotkin surprisingly tangled his poles with Grigoriev’s and lost precious ground to the head of the race.

At that point, Augdal took advantage and scampered away in the last lap to make the gold medal his own. Chervotkin came back with a huge effort to catch up to Hoel. In the final sprint Hoel we leading but Chervotkin found one last surge to pass Hoel before the line to take the silver medal, while the Norwegian had to settle for bronze.

“I felt very comfortable both following others and navigating around people,” concluded Caldwell. “I’m fred up to get back out there for the Classic 10km on Sunday.”

Today's Winner - Erik Sverdrup Augdal and the lead pack © flyingpointroad.com

Once again it was all smiles in the US camp. “Patty [Caldwell] was on wax skis and was sitting around 20th, but then dropped back to the 30’s. He recovered in the latter half, and at the transition he was back at around 20th,” commented Team USA’s Development Coach Bryan Fish. “Our techs did a great job again giving our skiers competitive skis to be contenders.”

“During the skate leg, he came on strong and put in a great last lap to claim 10th. It’s really motivating as a coach to see such great results in distance skiing – we haven’t seen a top 10 for juniors for many years,” he added. “Our teams are skiing well and great to see strong results with each race.

USA teammate Adam Martin (USA) finished 40th, while Scott Hill (CAN) was the top Canuck in 51st. Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier (CAN) was 57th, John Hegman (USA) 59th, Alexis Dumas (CAN) 60th and Ben Wilkinson-Zan (CAN) 68th. USA’s Lars Hannah (USA) did not finish.

Junior Men’s 10km CL + 10km FR Skiathlon results here.