Latvian Arvis Liepins won convincingly the last stage of the Roller Skiing Baltic Cup, which took place on Sunday in Latvian ski center Priekuli.
Liepins dominated the 41,6km Free with individual start in 1:31:00 and edged out the runner up Lithuanian Vytautas Strolia by one minute. Latvian Janis Puida was third.
On the ladies‘ side Latvian skiers took all three podium places in the 20,8km Free individual start race. Inga Daushkane seized the first place, two minutes ahead of Natalia Kovalova, third place went to Zane Eglite.
The battle for the overall victory in the men’s Baltic was very tight and the winner was decided as late as after the last race of the season. Lithuanian Vytautas Strolia grabbed the overall title beating Estonian Oleg Kovalov in second and two Latvians in third and fourth– Janis Puida and Daumants Lusa, who both collected the same portion points. Janis Puida could celebrate third place thanks to better result in the last race. A
Among the ladies, Latvian Zane Eglite had a comfortable lead already before the last stage of the Baltic Cup. Her compatriot Natalia Kovalova grabbed second place overall. Another Latvian Inga Daushkane secured the third place in the Cup, despite having equal points with Lithuanian Ingrida Ardishauskaite, thanks to the win in the last stage.
About Roller Skiing Baltic Cup
The idea to organize the Baltic cup in roller skiing came from Latvian Martins Niklass and Estonian Rain Jaaksoo in 2008 after the roller skiing marathon in Estonia. Lithuanian Algis Drusys joined them and this idea was implemented one year later.
Winners from previous editions are Latvians Pavels Ribakovs (2009) and Janis Teteris (2010) among men, and Estonians Hanna Maria Puhke (2009) and Marika Kustavus (2010) on the ladies’ side.
Contributed by Ivars Bacis
