Already halfway through the Alliansloppet in Trollhättan, some riders jerked after Calle Halfvarsson set a high speed.
With just over seven kilometers to go, only Calle Halfvarsson and Eirik Sverdrup Augdal remained in the breakaway - then the Swede missed catching a mug of water and flailed out with his hands.
- A sign of fatigue to miss that, he says in TV4's broadcast.
Halvarsson lost a few meters, but then caught up with the Norwegian and drove away.
The last kilometers he drove solo, with the bunch close behind.
At the finish line, he was just seconds ahead of the pack.
- I am completely exhausted, and was for the entire last lap.
But I felt that if there's ever a time I'm going to win, it's now.
I've stumbled into this race before so I wasn't sure I'd win.
The maid to the competitors
It was Halfvarsson himself who had to take great responsibility for keeping up the momentum.
- I asked if they wanted to move several times.
But it was too slow when the others pulled.
The victory was revenge after breaking last year and falling into the lead in 2020. Although he won the race for the first time and did it in style, he does not want to pull too big gears.
- I feel that it responds well in the strike.
In any case, it is a sign that you are good at staking.
I've been on the podium here before, but never won.
Now I can put the roller skis on the shelf.
Max Novak was the second best Swede in fourth place.
The 16-year-old super talent Alvar Myhrback finished in 20th place, two places ahead of Petter Northug.