Your maxVO is quite good and this is a good indicator of high endurance potential. Please read this post I did just a couple of days ago as it might explain a few things.

Test Results

The best predictor of endurance performance is the speed at lactate threshold (anaerobic threshold).

Don’t worry that your test wasn’t completely sport specific unless you have money to burn on another test. You might be hard pressed to find a lab that can administer a steep uphill test anyway. Ask yourself what another test will tell you regardless of the efficacy of the test. Why do you want to know your maxVO2 and how will it inform your training decisions?

The test like you did is not a performance test it is a measure of a metabolic limit. Athletes are or at least should be most interested in improving performance not improving a lab test.

I’d suggest using a field performance test to determine you maxim uphill sustainable effort. Find a steep hill and perform our AnT test on it: https://uphillathlete.com/diy-anaerobic-test/

This will give yo some immediately actionable training information. Did the lab test identify your aerobic threshold? If it was a max test then this is doubtful but that’s another super important data point to use for training decisions. I once coached a top XC skier with a max VO2 of 90ml/kg/min who was aerobically deficient (AeT HR=135, Ant HR=165). So your impressive maxVO2 does not tell the whole story.

AS for the Oly 50km XC race. XC skiing is done at highly variable intensities because of the undulating terrain. On the uphills skiers can exceed maxVO2 intensity (not the maxVO2 itself but the HR and power output). They accumulate what is called an oxygen debt that gets repaid as they glide down the back of the hill. This allows the XC ski events to be competed at a higher average intensity than say a 50km running race where the runners have to still work hard on the down hills. They are probably working at 90% of maxHR for most of the race. But the very high AeT (see below) allows them to preserve glycogen.

This has several consequences for skier: maxVO2 tends to correlate better with results than in running. Rapid recovery (lactate removal) on the down hills requires a very high AeT and AnT. I have trained a WC skiers with an AnT at 93% of max HR and AeT HR at 88% of max. This skier had WC podium finishes despite never testing better than 65ml/kg/min on maxVO2 test. The previously mentioned skier with 90 maxVO2 was not competitive on the WC circuit with best finishes in the 30s. I have other examples of rather XC skiers with quite mundane maxVO2 who I have trained who ranked in the top 12 in the overall World rankings. As a skier myself with a maxVO2 of 80 I was never better than a mid 40s skier on the WC. This is why I say to not obsess over this one number.