January 10, 2015 – Following Stage 5 at the Tour de Ski top US sprinter Kikkan Randall announced she was leaving the Tour to recover from a lackluster start to the season and focus on Falun 2015. Soon after she was headed home for a 16-day sojourn to rebuild and try and turn her season around.

Meanwhile Sadie Bjornsen, who is having a strong season and was the top US teamer at the Tour, held to her plan to abandon after Stage 4 where she was 8th in the women’s 5km CL. The news of her being dropped from the Red Group hit hard following such a great start but was not unexpected as “I was sick for a long time last year, therefore have a big empty block to fill from last season – so I will be back on the funded track soon.”

Apparently Randall also fell out of the distance Red Group after Period 1 but she is still in the Sprint Red Group. And Ida Sargent, who was not in the Sprint Red Group, has moved into it after Period 1.

Jessie Diggins fell sick is also out of the Tour while speed king Andy Newell is having his own issues with crashes, allergic reactions telling us “something just isn’t working”. So the men are also out of the Tour leaving Liz Stephen on her own but the Vermont skier loves the challenge and is also having a very solid start to the season nailing a career-best 5th today in the women’s 10km CL.

Recall Noah Hoffman being injured at the first World Cup but the Hoff is off crutches now and could make it back to the World Cup and to Falun 2015 if all goes well. Then there’s rising star, Sophie Caldwell, who suffered two elbow injuries during the off season but the talented skier, also from Vermont, has been showing steady improvements and is almost back to her old self – more good news for the team.

We caught up with Head Coach Chris Grover for his assessment of things during this season of ups and downs for the US squad that has turned heads more than once on the international circuit.

Has Kikkan Randall returned home following her announcement that she’s out of the Tour ?
Chris Grover: Yes, Kikkan is home in Anchorage for about 16 days to focus on recovery and preparation for the World Champs. She will head directly to Sweden for training after a break and we will next see her in World Cup action in Ostersund.

Can you confirm that Sadie Bjornsen fell out of Red Group… and anyone else on the team ?
CG: Sadie fell out of the distance Red Group after Period 1. Kikkan did as well, but she is still in the Sprint Red Group list. Ida Sargent was not in the Sprint Red Group list, but moved into it after Period 1. You can view all of these lists on the FIS site here.

What can you tell us about Sadie Bjornsen’s status with the team?
CG: Sadie will be racing this next weekend in Otepaa. She is sticking with her plan of racing the first four stages of the Tour, and then coming to Ramsau to recover and train here with the other sprinters before traveling to Estonia. We are really excited how she has been skiing all season long, and for her excellent Tour de Ski. She has had no change in team status.  Athletes that start the year on the A-Team remain on the A-Team. Likewise for B or D Team athletes. Sadie will be an A-Team athlete all season long.

Can you pls explain the situation for team members that fall out of the Red Group with respect to funding ?
CG: A-Team status for the year is most-often based on being in the Red Group at the start of the season.  We budget for that.  Athletes that have made the Red Group in either sprint of distance are consistently skiing at a world-class level, and although it is an imperfect measuring stick, it generally is a good indication of current performance levels.

A-Team athletes that fall out of the Red Group need to pay for only the nights that we would have received money for them had they stayed in the Red Group.  For example, an A-Team distance athlete that is no longer in the Distance Red Group can expect to cover their own room and board expenses for 3 to 4 nights at a distance World Cup weekend, but are covered by the USST on the other nights that week, as well as at the training camp the following week, and also at the sprint weekend following that. The USST can fund those days and weeks because we planned to be paying for them all along.

Conversely, if a B-Team athlete makes the Red Group during the season, he or she keeps every dollar that an Organizer pays for Red Group lodging and travel. So their costs become less.

This is the same as we have operated for some time now. Athletes that start the season on the A-Team keep that status all year, as do athletes on the B or D Teams. We simply don’t have a pool of funds set aside to pay for them when they fall out of a given Red Group. The budget is the budget and we have to try to meet it one way or another.

It is also worth noting that every athlete that is racing on World Cup (A-Team, B-Team) has no expenses related to infrastructure.  There are no costs for coaching, servicemen, wax, physical therapy, vans, gas, etc.  All of these things add up to many thousands of dollars and go to support every member of the Team.

The NNF has often stepped-up to fill in the funding gaps for athletes (USST and many others) that were paying for some of their room, board, and travel out of pocket.  Those of us at the USST (athletes and staff) continue to be grateful for the NNF’s support; it is truly making a difference.

With Randall home, Jessie Diggins sick and Sadie B only doing four events what’s the current status of the team at the Tour de Ski?
CG: Only Liz Stephen remains on the Tour. Our plan going into the season was to have only Noah, Liz, and Jessie finish the Tour. Of course, Noah was injured in Ruka and Jessie unfortunately fell sick after the 4th stage of the TdS. So we are left with only Liz on the Tour.  We have all along planned to have the majority of the Team stop the Tour after stages 4 or 5.  Now we are recovering and training in Ramsau before traveling to Otepaa this next Wednesday. We will have four men and four women in Estonia.

Any update on Andy Newell as he mentioned an allergic reaction and has not been clicking ?
CG: Andy has had a disappointing start to the World Cup this season. He has been battling an allergic reaction since the late fall.  He has had some excellent help from an allergist at home in Vermont, and from our Team Doctor, Larry Gaul.  Unfortunately symptoms are persisting and we are still working on getting him healthy. He is training now in Ramsau.

Also Erik Bjornsen is he healthy and can you assess his first start to the season on the WCup ?
CG: This season will certainly be a learning experience for Erik. This was his first year skiing the traditional fall World Cup venues like Kuusamo and Lillehammer and his first Tour de Ski.  He’s had some great races, such as the classic race in Lillehammer on day 3 of the mini-tour but I know he has been disappointed with some of his results as well. As an emerging World Cup skier, it takes some time to learn how to ski the different venues and to be successful there. Erik is gaining important experience each day.  He had a very strong year of training and his fitness is high.

What’s your assessment of the team’s performances to date and the game plan going forward?
CG: We’ve had a slower than expected start the to the season. We’ve had a few athletes with stand-out performances, a few athletes that haven’t yet absorbed the training they did this summer and fall, and of course several athletes with broken bones this fall. We expected to be stronger right now that we have been. But we are actively working on getting everyone healthy, recovered, and ready to race at their potential in February. We’ve had some hurdles to overcome but the athletes and staff are incredibly resilient and each athlete is doing the daily work right now to be at their best when it really counts. We are having another pre-Worlds training camp in Davos, SUI from Jan. 26 to Feb. 8th.

Any thoughts on new athletes joining the WC group…?
CG: At home, Noah Hoffman is progressing rapidly with his recovery and looks to be back on skis by this coming week. Although his training has been greatly altered, he’s been able to complete a substantial amount of high-quality training.  We are looking forward to his return to the World Cup.

In Otepaa and Rybinsk we will have SuperTour leaders Rosie Brennan and Matt Gelso with us.  I’m looking forward to seeing how they can now challenge the competition on the World Cup.

All the best with the rest of the season.
CG: Thanks

During this interview Liz Stephen claimed a career-best individual Classic distance result at Stage 6 of the Tour de Ski with a 5th place finish giving the team more good news. She is 6th overall – best ever in the standings – with the final Alpe Cermis stage remaining where she has had the second and third fastest times.