December 21, 2013 (Asiago, Italy) – The USA’s Ida Sargent grabbed an impressive 10th place in the 1.25km CL Sprints in Asiago, Italy as Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) claimed her 29th individual World Cup win powering ahead of all challengers. Meanwhile Sargent’s teammate Sadie Bjornsen turned heads again today with a 5th place in the qualifications ending up 16th overall.

Ida Sargent (USA) © Nordic Focus

“Today was fun and a good confidence booster. I had felt like my fitness has been good but the results were not there so it feels great to sneak back into the top ten,” Sargent told Trax. “It will put me in a good place mentally for me this upcoming training block over Christmas.

“The course is relatively flat here so there was a lot of question over whether to use classic skis or skate skis and double pole. This happens frequently in men’s race but it was the first time I’ve seen a lot of women double pole. I went with classic skis and striding and felt like that was the best choice for me,” she added.

Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) © Nordic Focus

Behind Kowalczyk today was Finland’s Anne Kyllønen with her first world cup podium while Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla of scored her first World Cup podium this season in third.

Anne Kylloenen (FIN) © Nordic Focus

Daria Gaiazova turned things around for the Canadian cross-country ski squad with a 14th-place finish, after qualifying 28th, as she finished third in her 1/4 final heat and did not advance. Chandra Crawford was 45th, while Perianne Jones, racing at her first World Cup this season, placed 54th.

The USA’s Kikkan Randall in 15th today relinquished her Sprint Cup leader’s bib to Kowalczyk as she dropped to 3rd overall behind Denise Herrmann (GER). She was happy for her teammates but wanted to see a better day come her way.

“I’m not happy with the result today, I wanted more. But I tried hard with what I had in the body today and it just wasn’t quite enough. The conditions were definitely challenging out there. It actually froze and was surprisingly firm when we started our ski testing this morning but the snow slowed down quickly after everyone had skied several laps.  The snow got really wet and slow and there was a lot of dirt in the track. The pole track also got quite punchy,” said Randall.

Kikkan Randall (USA) © Nordic Focus

“My skis were solid today, enough kick when I hit it right and pretty good glide. It was a tough call on whether or not to try double-poling. I was actually surprised that so many women did try double-poling out there.  It actually worked better than I thought it would. Almost wished I would have tried it,” she continued.

“I was definitely looking for a faster qualification and to be fighting up front in the rounds.  In the Ruka classic sprint, I was skiing technically well and had good power and spark in my movements. Today I wasn’t able to lock into my best technique and my body felt a little heavy and slow. I’m hoping that today’s hard efforts will help spark me for the team sprint tomorrow. I know when I’m on I can compete for the podium in classic sprints now, today I just wasn’t on!

“Really great to see all my teammates ski so strong again today. It definitely helps my spirits when I didn’t advance past the quarterfinals to see that USA still had some strong chances,” added Randall.

Chandra Crawford (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Crawford was looking for more today and hopes she gets the nod on Sunday for the Team Sprint. “I was fired up for today because classic skiing, when I’m at my best, is an absolute blast… kicking and gliding out there on perfectly race waxed skis is a ton of fun. Seriously maximal effort and focus out there in this little park in Asiago but I am still not where I want to be for fitness and I turned in a pretty average classic sprint result for me. If I get the chance to represent Canada tomorrow (we are three girls) you’d better believe I will stick with the leaders or die trying tomorrow,” quipped Crawford.

Perianne Jones (CAN) © Nordic Focus

For Jones it was a relief to be back on the World Cup circuit. “Despite the fact that today was terrible, I’m feeling pretty good. It was a little bit of an out-of-body experience racing out there today, I think a few more days to get adjusted would have been ideal.
My skis were great, I just never really was able to get into things out there. Didn’t really feel like myself. I’m really excited to be back on the world cup, and looking forward to the rest of the season,” commented Jones.

Sargent described how her day unfolded…. “Qualifying was decent for me and anytime I make it into the heats I’m happy with it. In the quarterfinal I had a horrible start. I was just asleep on the line and everyone else took off so fast and I was left way behind. I’m not sure what happened. But then I was able to move up on the next two hills and was in second going into the final stretch but Visnar who was on skate skis got me at the line. I needed it to be just a little shorter.

Sadie Bjornsen (USA) © Nordic Focus

“But I was really excited to get a LL loser spot. I was in the first heat so I had to wait for a long time to see if I made it but I tried to just not think about it and go about getting ready for the next heat just in case. Then in the semifinal I had a horrible lane on the outside and got stuck with nowhere to go. So I tried to jump in behind Saarinan but I hit her tails and almost went down.

“I was able to catch back up quickly but then on the next corner Flugstad pushed me outside and I was again without a track and having to sprint to catch back up. On the next hill I just kind of ran out of gas so maybe I was tired or maybe I just wasted too much energy earlier on. It was a fun day and I had great skis the whole time. I’m looking forward to the first team sprint of the year tomorrow. I’m racing the first leg with Sophie while Sadie and Kikkan are racing together,” she concluded.

Qualifications here.
Finals here.