Troy de Haas ended up in 32nd spot(+1.56 behind Thierry Gueorgiou) after the the first of this year’s World Cup races held in Finland. TDH-“I ran a solid start through the early parkland controls, then I must have lost some time on the first forest route choice leg (control 10) as I could see François approaching in the opposite direction (who went on to place 4th)”. Although a 32nd place is a little below Troy’s long term expectations there were some encouraging signs with several fastest splits from the qualifying and final which included the first control in both races. Troy is pretty happy with his form and this was another good hit out following up after his 19th place at the recently held Finnish Sprint Champs.

Troy was unfortunately the only Australian competitor at this World Cup but on Saturday night/Sunday morning(Central European Time) you can follow 4 of the Australian WOC team members at Jukola. Reuben Smith from Nybro OK is on 1st leg for his club, Rob Walter on 6th leg for Malungs OK and Troy de Haas is on last leg(ie.7th leg) for his club Rasti-Kurikka. Both Rob and Troy are running for very good clubs and will hopefully be in the hunt for top 10 placings or better. Annika Östman (Australian massage therapist) is also running for her clubs first team Sävedalens AIK on 2nd leg in the Venla(women’s relay on the Saturday afternoon) and they have a very competitive team.

Brett Weihart
WOC Coach