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Lee Seung-Hoon (KOR) added another Mass Start gold to his tally on Saturday. The 29-year-old Korean edged out Livio Wenger (SUI) and Bart Swings (BEL) in the final sprint, to leave them with silver and gold respectively. 

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The Men’s Mass Start Race was lit up in the first intermediate sprint, when Danila Semerikov (RUS) pulled clear to escape from the pack. 

Simon Schouten (NED) tried to chase the Russian down, but he could not bridge the gap and Semerikov managed to stay ahead until less than two laps from home.

Peter Michael (NZL) pulled the pack back to Semerikov and the sprinters took position, with reigning World Champion Lee proving to be the fastest of the bunch again.

Wenger took his first career World Cup podium behind the Korean, while Swings took his first World Cup medal of the season.

The Belgian, who had won the B-Division 1500m earlier on Saturday, was happy to be back after a poor start to the season. 

“I’m improving every weekend,” he said. “I’ve been struggling in the beginning of the season. The Heerenveen World Cup was bad and Stavanger was only slightly better, but here (at the North American World Cups), everything has improved a lot.

“I knew I would not be good at the season’s start. I suffered from an inflammation in my knee and I got sick, but I left the troubles behind and from now on the only way is up.” 

Lee leads the Mass Start World Cup with 218 points. Wenger is second with 175 points and Andrea Giovannini (ITA), who came seventh on Saturday, is third with 150 points.

Full results and classifications. Follow the discussion on social media by using #WCSpeed and #SpeedSkating and watch the live stream on the ISU Skating Channel.