December 04, 2016 (Lillehammer, Norway) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins led the North American women finishing eighth in women’s 10km classic pursuit finale of the three-day mini tour ending up 8th overall. Norway’s Heidi Weng won the pursuit and her first FIS World Cup mini tour with teammate Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg in second and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski, who started the day in 5th, taking the final podium spot.

Sadie Bjornsen (USA) was 11th while the top Canadian was Emily Nishikawa in 46th. “I didn’t have my best day today, as I was struggling with finding my climbing technique and kicking well out there on the hills. I think I got a little bit excited at the start and went out just a little too hard, and that definitely didn’t help me as I needed my best technique on course today.

“My overall tour placing was good for me, and I was excited about that but I didn’t have as great a classic race in time-of-day. But I was proud of my effort, and really proud of the team for having a good day. Looking back on past years, this is without a doubt my best mini-tour finish and it’s exciting to see progress being made,” said Diggins.

“Today was the final day of three days of racing here in Lillehammer. I have been really looking forward to this race, because I was excited to do some classic skiing around people. The race went really well for me, as I was feeling stronger on the climbs than I have in the past years at this venue, so I was having lots of fun out there!

“I got the opportunity to ski around many different people, which kept the race challenging and fun! It was the third day of wonderful skis, so I am really thankful to the staff for that, because that is especially important for this race course. It will be nice to head down to central Europe this week, get some rest, and show up for our first skate sprint race of the season,” concluded Bjornsen.

Emily Nishikawa was the top Canadian in 46th, Cendrine Brown finished 52nd and Dahria Beatty was 59th. “I was happy with today, and have been feeling better and better with each race I do,” said Nishikawa. “Today I was happy with how my body felt, and how I was able to ski this really hard course. We had amazing skis that were super fast with perfect grip, so that was really fun.  I’m already really looking forward to racing in Davos next weekend!”

Pursuit fastest time results HERE.
Tour standings HERE.