Kris Freeman leads a contingent of three US men in the 30km duathlon tomorrow in Falun. Freeman has scored World Cup points in 5 of 8 World Cup starts in individual distance races, including four straight. He finished 16th in Estonia at the beginning of the month, his best result since an early-season 5th. Freeman has battled illness since December and appears to be working back into top form.
Leif Zimmermann and Garrott Kuzzy will also start for the US. Kuzzy had an impressive World Cup debut week in Canmore, where he placed 9th in the freestyle sprint. Last week he finished 59th in the 11.4 km freestyle race in Liberec – his first European World Cup event.
Zimmermann, who missed most of last season due to illness, finished just behind Kuzzy in Liberec, and looks to improve upon his 38th place finish in this event in Canmore.
Kikkan Randall is the sole starter for the US women. With a World Cup sprint victory under her belt, Randall has been showing steady improvement in distance racing, including a 68-point race last week in Liberec, her second-best distance race of the season as measured by FIS points. Her top performance came in Davos, Switzerland in early December – her 37th place finish was good for 57 points.
Randall will be joined by fellow North Americans Sara Renner and Madeleine Williams, both racing for Canada. Since returning to the World Cup circuit after a year off to have a child, Renner has scored World Cup points in each of her last five starts.
Devon Kershaw and George Grey start for the Canadians in the men's event. Kershaw has been a consistently in the points this season, with a best of 12th in a distance race, and 8th last week in the sprint.
