Marijke Groenewoud and Jorrit Bergsma secured victories in the mass start events at the World Cup speed skating competitions held in Heerenveen.
De Telegraaf, a Dutch news outlet, reported on the results from the Heerenveen World Cup races.
Marijke Groenewoud, 26, won the women’s mass start race at Thialf after 16 laps by prevailing in the final sprint. She finished ahead of American skater Mia Manganello and South Korean athlete Park Ji-woo. The final stages of the race saw Bente Kerkhoff control the pace, but Groenewoud launched a decisive acceleration at the start of the final lap and maintained her lead until the finish. Kerkhoff placed nineteenth in the event.
In the men’s competition, 39-year-old Jorrit Bergsma claimed his second mass start victory of the season. After initially attacking alongside Andrea Giovannini and Felix Maly, Bergsma was brought back midway through the race. He then executed a late attack with two laps remaining and sustained his lead until the finish line. He edged out Chung Jae-Won from South Korea and fellow Dutch skater Bart Hoolwerf. This marked Hoolwerf’s first podium finish of the season following previous results of thirteenth in Salt Lake City and seventh in Calgary. Bergsma had also won the opening World Cup mass start race in Salt Lake City earlier in the season.
