January 20, 2019 (Otepaa, Estonia) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins claimed 13th in the women’s 10km Classic individual start dominated by Norway’s Therese Johaug as the World Cup wrapped up in Otepaa, Estonia on Sunday. Ebba Andersson of Sweden was second and Russian Natalia Nepryaeva placed third.

Also in the points were Americans Rosie Brennan in 27th and Sadie Bjornsen in 29th, while Caitlin Patterson was 39th, Ida Sargent placed 41st and Dahria Beatty was 43rd.

“Today was a really interesting and tricky waxing day out there, with variable conditions and snow blown in the tracks in many sections of the course! I was really happy with my kick and I know I lost a lot of time on the flats, but I was happy with how I raced my race,” said Diggins. “I was in the zone, pushing as hard as I possibly could and skiing technically better than years past. I’m still carrying some fatigue from the Tour so I need to rest a little more in the next few weeks, but I’m happy with where I’m sitting right now.”

“It was tough conditions this weekend in Estonia. I didn’t have too many expectations after suffering some illness and not racing for a little while. I had good feelings in the sprint, but not the speed I needed for the result I wanted. It left me optimistic for the distance race however,” said Brennan.

“I was pleased to wake up to new snow as I love slow, tough races, however, I really struggled to find skis that worked well on the uphills and were still fast on the downhill. I made the choice I thought was best, but it wasn’t quite what I needed to be competitive today. I am happy to be back racing and my shape feels good so I am hopeful that things will improve from here.”

The USA’s Erik Bjornsen was the top North American in 30th in the men’s 15km won by Finland’s Iivo Niskanen with Alexander Bolshunov of Russia in second and Didrik Toenseth of Norway completing the podium.

“Today was okay. I had some good moments during the race. My fitness is not where I would like it to be right now so I’m trying to turn that around. This weekend was a step in the right direction. My focus is on the Team Sprint and the individual 15km at World Champs. Today was a tough effort and hopefully something I can build off of. I’m not satisfied with a 30th place finish,” said Bjornsen.

American Scott Patterson was 36th, Len Valjas (Can) was 43rd, Bob Thompson (Can) finished 52nd, Benjamin Lustgarten (USA) was 53rd, and Kevin Bolger was 56th.

Women’s results here.
Men’s results here.