William Poromaa worried about injury — describes crash: "Went off the course"

William Poromaa long looked set for a good placing in the Tour de Ski pursuit over 20 km. But in the final three kilometres the 25-year-old lost ten places and finished 23rd after a crash.

“I slipped and went off the course,” Poromaa said after the race. “It doesn’t feel very good, it hurts quite a bit. We’ll see — maybe it’s fine.”

When asked where it hurts he replied: “The ribs.”

Coach Lars Ljung said Poromaa had taken a blow to the rib cage. “We’ll see how it develops. He’ll sleep on it and we’ll assess tomorrow and decide later,” Ljung said. Because the next Tour de Ski stage is not until Saturday — a classic sprint on the upcoming Olympic course in Val di Fiemme — Poromaa will be given an extra rest day.

Besides the fall, Poromaa also received a yellow card for double-poling in a no-poling zone. The stage was won by Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Edvin Anger finished third.

Poromaa’s incident is part of the Tour de Ski coverage from Val di Fiemme, where several athletes were interviewed after the stage. The Swedish team will monitor Poromaa’s ribs before deciding his participation in the next stage.