. I had an image that if I worked hard on the asphalt at the end, I could get away with it.
The final round of the season was held under such circumstances. At that time, I was in second place in the provisional ranking, just behind the leader. A win would definitely be a victory, and depending on the results of the other competitors, there was a possibility of victory even if they did not finish in first place.
Naturally, I was aiming for a win. Winning and becoming the champion of the year is a result that anyone can understand, and it is the coolest way to end the year. I was not wavering on that point. I was determined to finish first and win, no matter who came to the finish line.
Ueda was aware of the winning pattern and set out to win the race from the beginning. He outpaced his rivals on the climbs and remained in the lead until the finish line.
The second-place finisher was good at downhill skiing. He is the complete opposite of me. I was going to watch him and try to set him up on the second climb, but his pace was too slow, so I pulled away from him on the first climb. From there it was a solo journey."
The gap to second place was about 3 minutes as we approached the final downhill. There were 7 kilometers to go on the course. But they caught me," Ueda said, looking back on the race. . It was Oriol Cardona of Spain who caught up with him. . He is the provisional leader in points.
. that downhill was about 3 or 4 kilometers . I was able to close the gap by three minutes in that short distance. But I knew that . . because I had the season's trends in my head. In the race before the last race, he was third, but at the end of the race, he lost speed because he couldn't find his legs. . So, if he was running hard enough to catch me by 3 minutes, I knew that I could get away with it if I just hung in there on the asphalt at the end of the race. That kind of tactics was developed during the season."
And so Mr. Ueda cut the finishing tape in first place in a spectacular fashion. The gap between him and Oriol was only 12 seconds.
People often talk about a runner's high or being in a zone, but I was calm in that race. I controlled myself and won the race. The other runners in the race were all high-level athletes, too, and that gave me more confidence. The people around me were also pleased. It was the first time for a Japanese to win the tournament, and it was a turning point in the history of the event. The staff of the tournament also thanked me for the impressive competition.
