US Ski Team Announces Team for Period 2 – Tour de Ski

Dear Cross Country Community,

We are pleased to announce the Team for Period 2 of the 2025-26 World Cup season – the Tour de Ski:

2025-26 Tour de Ski

Men

Hunter Wonders                       Objective          25-26 Overall SuperTour Leader

Ben Ogden                                Objective          5^th 25-26 Sprint World Cup

Jack Young                                Objective          18^th 25-26 Sprint World Cup

Zak Ketterson                           Objective          22^nd 25-26 Distance World Cup

Gus Schumacher                       Objective          28^th 25-26 Distance World Cup

JC Schoonmaker                        Discretion         27^th Davos Sprint F, 28^th Trondheim Sprint C

John Hagenbuch                       Discretion         30^th Davos 10 km F

Kevin Bolger                             Discretion         32^nd Davos Sprint F, 33^rd Trondheim 10 km F

Women

Lauren Jortberg                        Objective          25-26 Overall SuperTour Leader

Jessie Diggins                            Objective          25-26 Overall World Cup Leader

Julia Kern                                  Objective          21^st 25-26 Sprint World Cup

Rosie Brennan                          Discretion         15^th Ruka Sprint C, 24^th Ruka 10 km C

Luci Anderson                           Discretion         25^th Davos 10 km F

Alayna Sonnesyn                       Discretion         27^th Ruka 20 km F, 27^th Davos Sprint F

The Working Group decided not to nominate additional athletes to the Tour de Ski due to the logistical, support demand, and health concerns surrounding the Tour, as well as to create a balanced and fair selection platform at the U.S. Nationals, where athletes currently performing at comparable levels can demonstrate their abilities.  The ski service demands of the Tour alone are massive, with each athlete competing 6 times in 8 days and requiring world-class skis each day to compete for podiums.  The Working Group views the Tour de Ski as a platform for elite performance and not a primary development opportunity.  Individual World Cups are much better designed for developing athletes, and we intend to populate starts much more generously in the remainder of the World Cup season.

The above discretionary selections were nominated by a 15-person working group that included:

James Southam                         Athlete Rep

Ida Sargent                               Athlete Rep

Perry Thomas                           Mansfield Pro Nordic Team

Chad Salmela                            Team Birkie

Andy Newell                             Bridger Ski Foundation

Erik Flora                                  Alaska Pacific University

Pepa Miloucheva                      Craftsbury GRP

Colin Rodgers                            SMS T2

Peter Holmes                            SVSEF Gold Team

Sophie Caldwell                        Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club

Eliška Albrigtsen                        Denver University

Chris Grover                             USST

Matt Whitcomb                        USST

Jason Cork                                USST

Kristen Bourne                          USST

The nominations were then approved by a discretionary selection review group comprised of:

Tyler Kornfield                          U.S. Ski & Snowboard Athlete Rep

Anouk Patty                              U.S. Ski & Snowboard Chief of Sport

Bryan Fish                                 U.S. Ski & Snowboard Development Director

The above discretionary selection process will be repeated for each period of World Cup this coming season.  As always, if you have questions or concerns about this process, feel free to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Chris Grover

Cross Country Program Director, U.S. Ski Team

chris.grover@usskiandsnowboard.org