Jessie Diggins fended off all challengers for her first individual World Cup victory -- that's right -- another one for the U.S. in the last three stages of the Tour de Ski. Diggins did so in the 5 k freestyle in Toblach, Italy, besting four Norwegians in the top five.
Therese Johaug's 9.9-second win over Norwegian teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg on Wednesday at Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski wasn't enough to take the overall Tour leader's bib from Østberg. Meanwhile, Heidi Weng stuck in third overall, and the U.S. women, led by Diggins and Bjornsen, continue to have two in the overall top 15 after both placed in the top 30 on Wednesday.
A collection of photos highlighting the North Americans in Tuesday's classic sprint at the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski. Sophie Caldwell made history as the third U.S. woman to win a World Cup race. Photos by Marcel Hilger.
Americans Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen skied another pair of consistent races, keeping themselves in the top 10 overall in the Tour de Ski. Liz Stephen moved up to 22nd place, while Sophie Caldwell called her effort "maybe my best-ever distance race" in 27th.
If there's one word that sums up the recent performances of several members of the U.S. women's team, it's consistency. In Stage 2 of the Tour de Ski, the women’s 15 k classic mass start, Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen proved particularly consistent in their pacing, consistent in their technique, and consistent in their results.
In a World Cup sprint, 31st has a little extra bite. Ask Len Valjas. He’s been in that position twice in the last three freestyle sprints. On Friday, the Canadian World Cup Team sprinter finished one-hundredth of a second behind 30th, which would have qualified him for the heats in the 1.5-kilometer skate sprint, the first stage of the Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Just over two weeks ago at another Swiss race site...
Therese Johaug once again dusted the women's field, this time in the 10 k classic individual start at the World Cup in Toblach, Italy. There, two U.S. women finished in the top 20, about two minutes behind her.
The 16th starter, Jessie Diggins landed in the leader's chair for a few minutes before Germany's Nicole Fessel and Norway's Therese Johaug finished on Saturday in the 15 k freestyle at the Davos World Cup. Diggins ended up 11th and the U.S. had two in the top 20 with Caitlin Gregg in 20th.
The Norwegians may have won the race, but the Americans stole the show in the women's 4 x 5 k relay on Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway. For the U.S. women, placing third marked their first time back on the World Cup relay podium since December 2013. (Updated)
Of the five U.S. women that started Saturday's skiathlon, four of them finished in the top 30 and one was just outside in 37th. "It’s nice that everyone is starting to feel like themselves," said Sadie Bjornsen, who led the team in 20th after skiing in the top 20 throughout the race.
Top skiers' message to world leaders: we want to keep having winter, so make a legally-binding climate agreement. And the message to ski fans? Andy Newell says: "We need to get on the backs of the guys and women in the U.S. who make these decisions, and put some pressure on them.”
Whatever Sadie Bjornsen was doing the first lap of Sunday's 10 k classic pursuit wasn't working for her, so she revamped and tackled the final three laps with a whole new attitude. "I gave myself a little smacking and realized I had to make my opportunity today," she said after placing 14th in the Ruka Triple for her best overall finish in Kuusamo, Finland.
Jessie Diggins did it again, winning her second-straight race in Gällivare, Sweden, on Sunday by 10 seconds over Czech skier Petra Novakova. Caitlin Gregg also reached the podium -- in day reminiscent of the 2015 World Championships 10 k -- and Liz Stephen and Rosie Brennan placed fourth and fifth.
This week's workout comes from Liz Stephen in 2010: uphill running intervals on a solid grade with 20+ minutes of active time, and preferably a steady downpour, mud, slippery footing, and whatever else nature has in store.
Liz Stephen has been taking advantage of summer to enjoy another endurance-sports passion of hers: running. By both running casually and in races, like the Trail Run National Championship and Red Bull 400 hill climb late last month, Stephen gets the most out of the popular form of cross training.
The Toppidrettsveka race series wrapped up yesterday with an exciting pursuit in Trondheim, Norway. While some of the USST racers fell or broke a pole or two, the team as a whole had another successful day and is leaving the camp knowing what they need to do to improve before winter.
The Toppidrettsveka race series continued on Friday with a 15 kilometer skiathlon. The USST had more strong results, with Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall finishing in 6th and 7th and Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton placing in the top 30.
The Toppidrettsveka race series opened Thursday with a grueling 5.3 k uphill run, which American climbing specialists Liz Stephen and Noah Hoffman placed third in, and continued with afternoon classic rollerski sprints, where another American Sophie Caldwell made the final and placed fifth.
The U.S. Ski Team is in Aure, Norway, for their second training camp of the summer, preparing for this week's Toppidrettsveka rollerski races. FasterSkier caught up with some of the coaches and athletes to see how they are preparing for the three-day series.
For its first on-snow camp of the summer, the U.S. Ski Team traveled to New Zealand to train at the Snow Farm in Wanaka. With a full 15 days of skiing, the team was able to make some mid-summer improvements to technique while logging some serious distance on skis.