Brennan, Diggins Lead U.S. in Stage 2 Ski Tour 2020
In a wet and wild Stage 2 of Ski Tour 2020, Rosie Brennan and Jessie Diggins led four Davis U.S. Ski Team athletes into the top 25 in Sunday’s 10k classic pursuit. But at the end of the day, the real winners were the U.S. Ski & Snowboard wax technicians.
“Rain turning to snow about five minutes before the start is everyone’s worst nightmare on a classic day,” said Rosie, who finished 10th, with Jessie in 11th, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen 19th and Hailey Swirbul in 24th.
“Thanks to the tech team for putting wonderful skis together given the absolute craziness coming out of the sky,” noted Sadie, who recovered from a stomach bug that knocked her back quite a bit before the opening stage. “With a snow-rain downpour, I was feeling right at home strapping classic skis on my feet and heading out into the misery. I have spent plenty of days in this exact condition during summer training up on Eagle Glacier, so I was trying to channel every bit of internal strength I could find. The fact that I was able to work my way up to 19th today, and had encouraging feelings in a somewhat depleted version of myself is something I will take and run with.”
With Sunday’s classic pursuit start times based on Saturday’s opening stage 10k results, Jessie and Rosie started eighth and ninth, respectively, and worked with the second group of skiers to maintain their pace.
“I started calm and controlled to see what the tracks were going to be like and what my skis were going to do and upon realizing that my skis were working great and it was hard to break away with fresh snow in the tracks, I bridged you to the next group,” Rosie said. “I remained there throughout the race and tried my best to break away, but with the falling snow it was truly difficult to make any ground.”
Starting before the women’s 10k Sunday, the men raced a 15k classic pursuit without the rain-snow challenges. David Norris was the top American finisher for the second-consecutive stage, moving up two places from Saturday’s result to finish 34th Sunday. Simi Hamilton also improved on his 46th-place result from Saturday, finishing 43rd Sunday.
“I felt great today, but didn’t ski the smartest race,” said David. “I got impatient and pushed hard on the second lap costing me some time in the final couple kilometers. On the other hand, my skis were running great and I felt strong. I’m now looking forward to the next several days.”
The athletes will enjoy a rest day Monday before Tuesday’s Stage 3 sprint at the base of the alpine slopes in Åre, Sweden.
“I am excited to have a day to recover and fill up my tank,” added Sadie. “An imperfect start will just fuel me with extra fight for the days to come!”
RESULTS
Stage 2
Women’s 10k classic pursuit
Men’s 15k classic pursuit
STANDINGS (Through Stage 2)
Women
Men
Ski Tour 202 Schedule:
Monday, Feb. 17
Rest day
Tuesday, Feb. 18
Stage 3 Åre, SWE
Freestyle sprint
Wednesday, Feb. 19
Travel day
Thursday, Feb. 20
Stage 4 Storlien, SWE (start) to Meråker, NOR (finish)
Freestyle 38k both men and women
Friday, Feb. 21
Travel day
Saturday, Feb. 22
Stage 5 Trondheim, NOR
Classic sprint
Sunday, Feb. 23
Stage 6 Trondheim, NOR
Classic pursuit, 15k women, 30k men
HOW TO WATCH
Tuesday, Feb. 17
10:15 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men and women’s sprint, Åre, SWE - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
Thursday, Feb. 19
4:45 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Women’s 38k mass start, Storlien, SWE - Meråker, NOR - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men’s 38k mass start, Storlien, SWE - Meråker, NOR - 5:00 a.m. - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
Saturday, Feb. 22
7:00 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men and women’s classic sprint, Trondheim, NOR - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
Sunday, Feb 23
5:00 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Women’s 15k pursuit, Trondheim, NOR - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:05 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men’s 30k pursuit, Trondheim, NOR - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m.. - Ski Tour 2020, Women’s 15k pursuit, Trondheim, NOR - Olympic Channel*
1:00 p.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men’s 30k pursuit, Trondheim, NOR - Olympic Channel*
*Same-day broadcast
Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app
Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.
