What a Day in Les Rousses; Diggins Wins, Ogden Third
Jessie Diggins and Ben Ogden put on quite the show today in the first of three races in Les Rousses, France with Ogden in third and Diggins taking home her 25th career World Cup victory.
Les Rousses, France is always a fun stop on the World Cup tour. The French fans come out in droves, the course is challenging and most importantly, the athletes are rested after a week off.
Today’s 10k skate challenged all. A course with transitional downhills, steep poppy uphills and little rest, it was all gas from start to finish. With the interval start format, it was athlete against the clock.
The men kicked things off with 57 men on the start list. The U.S. crew was led by Ogden, Kevin Bolger, Hunter Wonders and JC Schoonmaker.
For Ogden, it was all gas, no brakes - his specialty. Some would say it’s difficult to find the balance of distance and sprint skiing - many athletes are specialists in one, yet Ogden is joining the ranks of skiers who can do both. Just last season, he clinched his first-ever World Cup podium in the skate sprint during the beginning stages of the Tour de Ski. Plagued by illness that took him out of the rest of the season, Ogden entered this season with high expectations and a “master plan” he looked to follow. After the Tour, Ogden graded the first half of his season.
“It was a B+,” said Ogden. “I am happy with many performances but still was hoping to be a little stronger in certain ones.”
Today, he was stronger.
In the first splits of the race, Ogden was the one to beat — some would say he had near-perfect pacing.
“I am really psyched with today, that was incredible. Really fired up to get on the podium and really excited to round out the sprint and distance third places - now I just need to get some classic results in there!”
Alongside Ogden was Bolger, who returned to the World Cup with a 28th place result, a solid distance result for the veteran. Schoonmaker was just outside of the top 30 in 31st and Wonders was 48th. The ultimate winner of the day went to Iver Tildheim Andersen of Norway and Paal Goldberg in second.
For the women, the sentiment was the same. Diggins was the fastest out of the gate, pushing a pace no one could catch. Through the time check at the middle section of the race, her pace held steady over Norway's Astrid Slind and continued to increase over Sweden's Frida Karlsson and Germany's Victoria Carl.
Sophia Laukli had her own race and put up splits that challenged Diggins and the rest of the World Cup field. Laukli, a specialist in distance skate races, especially those with climbs, was on fire. Across the line, Laukli spent some time in the leader's chair before other races came in and ultimately finished the day in eighth place, a solid result. The rest of the U.S. women had strong races, including Luci Anderson of the U.S. Biathlon Team, who started her first-ever FIS Cross Country World Cup, crossing the line in 21st, with Brennan not far behind in 28th. Sonnesyn was 34th.
“I'm just so happy,” said Diggins, post race. “I was super inspired by Ben this morning and the rest of the boys, and it got me really fired up to race today. Overall, it was a really good day and I just raced with my whole heart!”
"Today was definitely a bit of a confidence boost I needed," said Laukli. "I actually felt more like myself racing so that’s all I can ask. Results wise I’m happy but I know I can still be moving up so it was definitely motivating to be back in the mix and close to the podium."
With today’s victory, Diggins continues her lead in the overall World Cup rankings and clinches her 25th World Cup victory of her career and fourth victory of the 2024-25 season.
Saturday, the team is back at it for the classic sprint. Watch LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live, with heats starting at 8:45 a.m. ET.
