Icing Skis Knock Diggins Out of Tour de Ski Lead
Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) and Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) battled through an incredibly challenging classic 10k Wednesday to finish 11th and 15th respectively in the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany. Unfortunately, the U.S. Team and many other teams missed the kick wax selection and were forced to fight with icing skis.
Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg of Norway took the win by 0.1 seconds over Russia's Natalia Nepryaeva in second, and Anastasia Sedova in third.
“We missed the boat on the wax today, but I fought as hard as I could and I know I’m in great shape right now,” said Diggins. “I did everything I could with what I had today. And now the pressure of the leader's bib is 100 percent off, and I'm just going to ski as hard as I can tomorrow and recover as smart as I can.”
Diggins now sits fourth in the Tour overall with Bjornsen sitting in 10th. The women’s Tour de Ski is now led by Oestberg.
“It’s a bummer to have a day like today because my body felt really good, and I really like this course for classic skiing, but that’s life,” said Bjornsen. “Sometimes you have to just laugh it off and hope you can learn something as a team from the experience. Thursday will be the last race of my tour, as I have planned to not complete the full tour this year and try to do a training block without too much-accumulated race fatigue.”
On the men’s side, Ben Lustgarten was the lone American in the 15k classic race and skied a gutsy fight in a very tight field to 57th in an event won by Emil Iversen of Norway. In second was Italian Francesco De Fabiani with Sergey Usitiugov of Russia third. The men’s tour is led by Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo who finished ninth for the day.
The Tour de Ski stays in Oberstdorf for Thursday’s pursuit stage and will then head to Val di Fiemme, Italy, for the final two stages.
RESULTS
Men’s 15k Classic
Women’s 10k Classic
STANDINGS
Men’s Overall (through 4 stages)
Women’s Overall (through 4 stages)
HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Thursday, Jan. 3
7:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 5 men’s 15k pursuit - Oberstdorf, GER - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic individual start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
9:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage 5 women’s 10k pursuit - Oberstdorf, GER - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
Friday, Jan. 4
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships classic sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
Saturday, Jan. 5
8:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 women’s 10k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:10 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com &NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 6 men’s 15k mass start - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV*
Sunday, Jan. 6
7:00 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 women’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV,OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:15 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle sprint - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
8:45 a.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
2:00 p.m. - Tour de Ski Stage Stage 7 men’s hill climb - Val di Fiemme, ITA - Olympic Channel-TV
Tuesday, Jan. 8
8:45 a.m. - U.S. Cross Country Championships freestyle mass start - Craftsbury, Vt. - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming
