February 05, 2012 (Rybinsk, Russia) – Norway’s Therese Johaug threw down the gauntlet claiming the second World Cup of her career in convincing style winning the women’s 15km Skiathlon (7.5kmCL+7.5kmFR) in Rybinsk today as neither Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) in second or Marit Bjoergen (NOR) in third could match her panache or speed.

Throwing down a little over 2 min behind was the USA’s rookie dynamo, Jessie Diggins, leading three Americans into the points placing 12th, as Kikkan Randall was 25th and Liz Stephen finished 26th. Holly Brooks was 35th and Ida Sargent was 37th.

The remarkable aspect of Diggins’ race was that she started 29th and just completed two demanding races – she made the final in the freestyle sprints on Thursday in Moscow and claimed 5th (after starting 27th) in Rybinsk yesterday tying the USA’s (and Kikkan Randall’s) best-ever distance race result while establishing the best all-time American woman’s 10km FR distance result.

“Yesterday definitely took a toll on my body, but I was still excited to hammer out a pursuit race and see what I could do,” Diggins told us post-race. “I definitely went through a few phases of feeling super tired, then felt much better after a little recovery on the flat section – then super smashed again.

“Sometimes I just had to put my head down and fight to keep up with the group I was with, other times I’d be feeling good enough to bridge a gap to the next group.”

Both Diggins and Randall skied well in the classic leg with Diggins moving up to 19th and Randall holding her own but the Sprint Cup leader was not 100% still recovering from her recent sickness.

“I was feeling ok, but not 100% out there. I tried to hang with the opening pace, and stayed up in the top 10 for most of the classic leg, but couldn’t quite find the pop I’ve had earlier this season. I had some good moments and then some rough moments in the skate portion,” confided Randall.

“The conditions were quite good, especially compared to yesterday. The temperature was a balmy -10C, although the wind was still cold. My energy was definitely draining through the race. I think I may have underestimated the effect that stomach flu I had on my energy stores.  Didn’t feel like I was at my best today. I got a little bit of spark back on the last skate lap, but it was frustrating not to be able to have raced where I’ve been.”

As Johaug, Kowalczyk and Bjoergen quickly established themselves the battle raged behind for position, points and glory. Johaug and Kowalczyk dispensed of a tiring Bjoergen soon after the skate leg began. But Johaug was relentless and clearly had the upper hand breaking Kowalczyk along the way to solo in for the victory with a time of 42:41.4

We asked Diggins to describe her race… “The classic stage was a little tough for me…although the Salomon boards were fast and our wax techs did a good job getting me enough kick, I was definitely struggling with catching up. I’d gotten into a great position right after the mass start, but then over the bridge I tripped and fell – it was completely my own fault – but I got skied right over and just tried to make myself as small as possible till the group went by so I could get up start working my way back through the pack.

“I was definitely having some deja vu from World Juniors last year when I fell and broke a pole and started dead last and had to work my way through! But I guess chasing is what I do best so I tried to not let it shake me up and just focus on one hill at a time.

“I felt the skating part was better for me, just because I know I’ll always get up the hill and don’t have to stress over slipping when the tracks get soft and steep.”

So with a half a dozen World Cup races under her belt what’s Diggins’ take on the Euro WCup scene?

“The pace was so crazy! The women here just go and go and go…and if you can’t hang with them, you get dropped so fast! It’s definitely cool to see and it makes me want to work even harder so that one day I can hang with the lead pack.”

Has she learned any Russian… ?

“I haven’t learned much Russian at all! Everywhere I go I try to learn some basics, like hello, thank you, please and good morning. But I can’t even begin to spell the Russian words!”.

What’s the game plan going forward…?

“We pack up tonight and leave tomorrow morning on a charter plane, which should be interesting! The team will train for a couple days in Ramsau before heading to the Czech Republic for the Nove Mesto WCup,” said Diggins.

Randall remains in 4th overall but is being challenged by Charlotte Kalle (SWE) who was fourth today and podiumed yesterday. “It will be good to have this next week to put in some good distance training and hopefully kick around,” added Randall. “Will just focus on some good training and hope to build back over the next couple weeks.”

Full results HERE.
World Cup Overall Standings HERE.