November 28, 2015 (Ruka, Finland) – American Sadie Bjornsen delivered another solid result finishing 14th in the women’s 5km FR race, the second-stage of the Ruka Triple, with teammate Jessie Diggins just behind her in 16th. Norway’s Therese Johaug dominated with a 17.6-second lead over Charlotte Kalla of Sweden in second followed by fellow Swede, Ida Ingemarsdotter, in third. Bjornsen now sits 11th overall in the mini-tour standings led by Johaug – Diggins is 19th overall.

“It was a super fun second day in Kuusamo. I have been looking forward to this race, because I really love the 5k distance. I have also done a lot of work in training with skate skiing this year, so I was looking forward to seeing what could happen,” commented Bjornsen.

“I was really stoked to finish where I did! That is a PR in skate skiing for sure! I am looking forward to some more skating opportunities this season, because the race was so closely packed, and I know for sure there are things I can improve in the future. I had awesome skis for the second day in a row, so I have the waxing crew to thank for that,” she added. “Tomorrow should be fun to start in a good position for some really tough classic skiing! There is a lot of climbing in this 10k, so it will be fun to see who is willing to burn their legs the most!”

We caught up with Diggins as well who told us, “It was a warm and foggy morning and the course held up really well. I was happy with my race but wanted more – I didn’t ski it badly, but I also know where I could have picked off a few seconds here and there. But for the first skate world cup of the season it’s a good place to start! The wax techs worked really hard and I think we had really competitive skis, and I’m excited for what looks like a good fight tomorrow in the 10km pursuit start classic,” wrote the Afton, MN star.

American Rosie Brennan placed 35th while Liz Stephen was 43rd with Emily Nishikawa, the lone Canadian, finishing 63rd. US Head Women’s Coach, Matt Whitcomb, was happy with today’s results.

“Jessie and Sadie skied great races again today. Jessie went out there looking to win the race, and while that exact outcome didn’t happen, the only way to ever win is to plan for it. We prefer to decide for ourselves what the results are going to be, rather than waiting to see what happens. There is no risk,” he commented.

“This team isn’t really into entering races with no expectations. That’s for people who don’t like pressure, and this is the World Cup. There is pressure,” Whitcomb continued. “These girls went for it today and all seven were awesome to watch. Some of them broke through and some of them didn’t quite find the goods. It will come. This is a hard job – not because of the pain of exertion, but because of the need for patience. For some the shape is here, and for others it is near.

“Things are shaping up to be exciting tomorrow.  Sadie is sitting in 11th and will be attacking her way into the top-10. The question is really how far can she ski into the top 10, and based on how she has been looking, it won’t surprise me if she has a very good day. Jessie has also positioned herself very well with two good days of racing, sitting currently in 19th and only 13 seconds out of 10th. Rosie is sitting on the edge of the top 30 and is tired of it already, so she’ll be moving in, and Ida, Sophie, Liz and Caitlin are all within 35 seconds of the points. The plan is to get four or five into the top-30,” he concluded.

The final stage of the Ruka Triple wraps up Sunday with a 15k/10k classic pursuit race. It will be streamed live on NBC Sports Live Extra with the women at 4:15 a.m. EST and the men at 5:30 a.m. EST.

Full results here.
Ruka Standings here.