December 22, 2013 (Schonach, Germany) – On Day 1 at round #4 of the Nordic Combined World Cup in Schonach, Germany, Bryan Fletcher from Steamboat Springs, CO, the lone U.S. athlete racing, skied from 31st to finish 18th. Fletcher’s jump put him at 1:28 back for the start of the 10km cross-country ski portion, where he showed his strength by earning the 11th fastest time of the day behind winner Magnus Moan, 30, from Norway who bested his teammate Haavard Klemetsen. They were joined on the podium by Akito Watabe from Japan who beat out third Norwegian Jan Schmid in a sprint for the finish line and finished 5,1 seconds behind Moan.

Unfortunately on Day 2 the ski jumping competition had to be cancelled due to the stormy wind conditions. So, Friday’s PCR results were taken into account which meant Klemetsen started seven seconds ahead of Eric Frenzel (GER) and nine seconds ahead of Watabe.

Jason Lamy Chappuis (FRA) prevailed after a strong race in stormy, rainy weather, crossing the finish line 0.7 seconds ahead of local hero Johannes Rydzek. Third place went to Japan’s Watabe again who finished 1.1 seconds behind Lamy Chappuis.

The USA’s Fletcher had another strong day on the tracks making the top 10 as he finished 9th after starting 26th posting the third-fastest time of the day. Taylor Fletcher was just out of the points in 31st, Todd Lodwich was 44th and Brett Denny was 51st.

“Today was a solid day for me. I was able to stay on my feet in the race and move up quite a bit. There were some really tough conditions out there today. Really strong wind, rain and warm weather all played a factor in today. This made for some tough racing out there.

“Today I was much closer in the jumping, but the whole field was also compact. I tried to ski with people throughout the race but ended up alone for the majority of the first three laps, which wore me out a bit for the fourth. However I was able to make contact with the lead group and have enough energy to jockey for position.

“Despite my best efforts I just couldn’t quite make it to the podium. Nonetheless I am very happy to wrap the period up with another top-10 finish and go home on a positive note. I am now looking forward to Gold Cup on Saturday as well as a little time to recover at home,” commented Fletcher.

Frenzel will take the yellow bib of the overall World Cup leader home for Christmas, leading with 403 points. Watabe is in second with 341 points and Lamy Chappuis bumped Kokslien to sit third overall with 312 points.

Following the holiday break the Nordic Combined World Cup heads to a new World Cup venue in Chaikovskiy, Russia shortly after New Year from Jan. 3-6, 2014.

Day 1 results here
Day 2 results here.