January 03, 2014 (Cortina, Italy) – USA’s Liz Stephen (USA) logged a standout race today in Cortina at the Tour de Ski’s women’s 15km FR Pursuit, posting the fifth-fastest time and moving up in the overall from 22nd to 12th – last year she finished 15th overall.

Norway’s Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) scored the win with a time of 37:30.3 ahead of teammate Therese Johaug (NOR), while Sweden’s Sara Lindborg (SWE) powered out the fastest time of 37:16.6 and moved into 10th overall.

USA’s Jessie Diggins (USA) also had a solid day as well, moving up from 21st to 13th with the eighth-fastest time of the day. She finished 21st in 2013. American teammate Holly Brooks (USA) finished 39th in today’s pursuit, while fellow Team USA member Sophie Caldwell did not start. Canadian Dasha Gaiazova (CAN) also did not start the race.

Stephen is starting to strut her stuff and SkiTrax chatted with her post-race. “The race yesterday was really hard and really fun. Jessie and I had a great pack to ski with, Kristin [Stormer Steira] being the strongest on the climbs would pull away from the group with me a bit off her heels and Jessie was really good on the downhills so she would pull us back in again,” commented Stephen

“It was a really fun game of cat and mouse and we went fast from the start, which made it exciting and also helped us catch so many people. Big thanks to Kristin for doing such incredible work out there and a shoutout to Sara Lindborg for winning the day and certainly having what I would guess is her best skate race of her career. Really strong skiing by her,” she concluded.

We caught up with Diggins post-race for her take on another great day for the American team.

“I was excited for the 15km skate because I really like the course here, and I love pursuit starts where I get to chase people down. The course was 3 laps of a 5km, that started with some flats and then had two long gradual climbs to the top of the course. From there the course swooped down and up three times on the side of a hill, before dropping back to the stadium level.

“I started with Kristin Stormer Steira 4 seconds ahead of me and Liz two seconds behind me. The three of us worked together, and we sometimes were in a pack of four more girls, as people would join or drop based on how they were feeling on that part of the course. I couldn’t keep up on the climbs, but on the second half of the course and especially the gradual downhill I would catch up.

“Kristin, Liz and I all took turns pulling – I would lead the flats and downhills, doing the work where my strengths were on the course to help pull the group along, and then I’d try my best to stay in contact on the climbs. A lot of the girls in the larger pack never took turns leading, but that’s sometimes the way it goes.

“This was for sure the most fun I’ve had racing so far this year – working with the other girls to have a great race. It was painful, for sure – I could feel the acid rising in my throat every time I got into a tuck and by the finish my legs felt like lead, but it was still a fun race! Conditions were ideal in Cortina, with sunny skies and temperatures hovering just above freezing,” commented Diggins.

Women’s Head Coach Matt Whitcomb was happy with the teams results commentin, “Starting only two seconds apart, Jessie and Liz had a chance to work together to employ each other’s strengths. Today, Liz was a little stronger on the long gradual climbing and Jessie a little stronger on the flats. They predicted this would be the case and were ready to execute their plan. I was happy to see them engage in tactics the way they did. The energy was quite strong for both Jessie and Liz, which is a lot to ask for with only two stages left to race. We are really proud of our athletes today, but again the service team produced some very fast skis. It takes a team effort and we were rewarded for it.”

Results

1. Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) 37:30.3
2. Therese Johaug (NOR) 38:09.0
3. Anne Kylloelen (FIN) 38:42.5

12. Liz Stephen (USA) 39:55.3
13. Jessie Diggins (USA) 39:58.6
39. Holly Brooks (USA) 42:46.4
DNS Dasha Gaiazova
DNS Sophie Caldwell

Full results here.
Women’s 15km FR times here.
TdS Overall here.