December 20, 2014 (Davos, Switzerland) – The USA’s Liz Stephen skied to a solid 12th-place finish in the women’s 10km FR as the World Cup returned to Davos and Marit Bjoergen (NOR) stamped her authority once again with a 19.9s margin for another resounding victory on her resume.

Final podium (l-r) Fessel 2nd, Bjorgen 1st, Weng 3rd © Nordic Focus

Germany’s Nicole Fessel took the bronze earning the second World Cup podium of her career with Heidi Weng giving Norway a second podium spot. In the points for the USA were Jessie Diggins in 27th and Sadie Bjornsen in 29th as Canada’s Emily Nishikawa finished 49th and American Caitlin Gregg was 54th.

“I’m feeling good overall and happy to see the results moving in the right direction as well as the feelings in the body,” Stephen told Trax. “The course was tough today in places. Certainly some very fast and icy downhills as well as a bulletproof stadium, but the top 1/2 of the course skied really nicely, fast and easy to get an edge on.

Liz Stephen P] flyingpointroad.com

“It has been really helpful being here for a solid two weeks and having a full week of skiing solely on this race course to feel like I know it like the back of my hand and paced it the way I wanted to. I guess I’ll know it even better after spending the next 10 days over Christmas here too.”

Diggins was hoping for better but feels her form is also moving in the right direction.

“I felt like I had better energy going into today’s race, but also an extreme amount of nerves. I wanted to have a really good one today with my family here and it being our second skate distance race! I think the amount of V2 and workable downhills suited me, but today the course was really icy and hard to balance on, which really didn’t suit me at all!

Jessica Diggins (USA) © Nordic Focus

“I tried my best, and was focused the whole time, pushing for those seconds. I think that top gear just wasn’t there today, so it was an ok race but not a great one. I paced it better than in past years, but I definitely wasted some energy on the icy rock hard stadium area, bobbling around trying to ski smoothly and not fall.”

For Bjornsen it was great to test her skating skills and technique and still land in the points.

“First off, I am pretty excited there was a race held today, because as you can see, there is not much snow over here in Europe these days,” shared Bjornsend. “It was fun to have another opportunity to try some skate skiing before the holidays… skating at altitude is another test of my fitness and my improvements, so I was pleased to squeak into the points.

Sadie Bjornsen © Nordic Focus

“Another try at a sprint race tomorrow, and then it will be great to have a little mental break with my boyfriend in France to find a good place in my mind and come back ready to take another step in the Tour.”

U.S. Coach Matt Whitcomb was pleased overall and commented on Stephen’s performance in a team release. “In 2013 she was 15th and the same time back (~1 min) in this same event in Davos, and finished just eight seconds off the podium two weeks later at World Champs. This will give her confidence as she heads into her training preparations for the Tour de Ski. That is a big focus for her this season. She’s on track.”

Full results here.