![Taylor Fletcher (USA) was fifth in the Oslo, Norway, World Cup on Friday to lead the U.S. nordic combined team in the second to last competition of the season.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/Taylor-Fletcher-L1.jpg")
When Taylor Fletcher flies just a bit farther on the jumping hill it will be a frightening day for nordic combined world. In the penultimate World Cup of the season on Friday in Oslo, Norway, the 22-year-old skied the fastest 10 k time of the day by 17 seconds to move from 23rd after the jumping competition to fifth at the end of the cross-country race. It’s not the first time he’s been the fastest skier in the field, and this time he shrunk a 1:31 starting handicap down to 25 seconds off of Eric Frenzel’s winning time.
With Friday’s result, Fletcher has posted a fifth-place finish three times this season, demonstrating a consistency he hopes to maintain in Saturday’s final race and down the road.
“I am very happy because I have been consistently racing well all year and to finish off the second to last race at the position is great, especially at Holmenkollen,” Fletcher said.
His multiple top-fives and a third-place finish, all thresholds he only crossed for the first time this year, have given him confidence for every time he gets on the cross-country course.
“In the cross country I am always confident I can move up, as if your not you probably won’t,” Fletcher said.
His approach held true in the slow conditions that greeted competitors in Olso on Thursday. Fletcher started off quickly in his pursuit of the leaders and was soon passing the skiers in front of him.