Lau competes at World Ski Champs

TT skier Nicholas Lau opened his Nordic World Ski Championships campaign in Oberstdor, Germany, on Wednesday.

Lau, competing in the men's 10K event, finished 73rd among the 85 participants that completed the event. Lau ended in 34 minutes and seven seconds (34:07.0). Winning the event was Mark Chanloung of Thailand in 24:23.8, Campbell Wright of New Zealand was second in 24:53.2 and Martin Moeller of Denmark took third spot in 25:17.0.

Brazilian Victor Santos was the only competitor not to finish the race.

"It was a tough one, (but) it was okay. There were pros and cons let's say as there always are," Lau told Newsday following his opening event.

He added that the slopes were more suitable for skiing on Wednesday compared to previous days. "Conditions were actually pretty good. A lot of us were concerned this week because the conditions were not good. They were too warm and the snow was wet and soft which is not good for cross country skiing. Thankfully the weather cooled down just a little bit and they moved the race from 2.30 in the afternoon to 10.30 in the morning. That made a difference actually, so it was okay in the end."

Lau will compete in his second and final event on Thursday when he lines up in the men's sprint event over 1.5K.

Lau, now in his early forties, left TT at two and lived in the USA (Boston and Texas), before moving to Switzerland in 2007.