Rogla, Slovenia – The Spring 2010 OPA Cup trip came to an end with the last race of the OPA Cup Finals on Sunday. The US ended the European tour in fine form, posting excellent results in the three race mini-tour.
The competition featured a 2.5/3.5km classic prologue on Friday, a mass start 5/10km classic on Saturday, and the final 10/15km handicap start on Sunday to determine the overall winners.
Mike Sinnott led the way for the US, finishing 4th overall. Sinnott started the day in 5th, 13 seconds behind leader Romain Vandel (FRA), and moved up a spot to finish just 7.3 seconds behind overall winner Fulvio Scola (ITA). His time for the day was the 6th fastest giving him three individual results in the top-7.
Noah Hoffman followed Sinnott in 13th. Hoffman, who has struggled to find top form over the past two seasons, had a breakout performance. He skied up from 19th, and had the 3rd fastest time over the 15km course.
Overall nearly all the Americans moved up on the final day. Sylvan Ellefson started 18th and finished 15th with his best single day performance since arriving in Europe.
Brayton Osgood continued the trend moving from 25th to 20th.
Peter Kling was the only male American not to improve. He ended last in the 31-man field.
For the second time on the trip, Sinnott set a personal best for FIS points – his 30 point performance on Sunday was significantly better than his 39 point performance in the prologue.
Nicole DeYong led the US women, finsihing 10th in a field of 25. DeYong started the day in 7th after a strong showing in the mass start where she was 6th. She lost three places on Sunday despite posting the 8th fastest time. Overall she finished the three race event just 59 seconds behind overall winner Elisa Brocard (ITA).
Three of DeYong’s four OPA Cup races on the trip were 67 points are better. Her previous best had been an 86 point effort this Winter at the Aspen SuperTour.
Becca Rorabaugh was the second AMerican in 15th, moving up three places while posting the 14th best time of the day.
Katie Ronsse, the final US starters, was 23rd after losing three spots.
Overall, from the results and points perspective, the trip appears to have been a success for US athletes. For more information on the trip and te reasons behind it, check out this recent FasterSkier article:
Topher Sabot
Topher Sabot is the editor of FasterSkier.
