January 27, 2013 (Klingenthal, Germany) – Bryan Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) soared to 15th in jumping then made his way to the front to finish sixth in a FIS Nordic Combined World Cup in Klingenthal. Hometown hero Eric Frenzel won his third straight world cup as Germany went one-two.

Bryan Fletcher © 2011 U.S. Ski Team file photo

“Today was an awesome day for me. Lately I have been struggling a little bit both on the jump hill and on the cross-country course. So I made some changes in my training to recover a bit more and things are starting to come together. I proved to myself that I am capable of working through the challenges that are thrown my way and even when I don’t perform my best I can be in the top ten. But today was also a solid day for the whole team. We all were in the points and that shows that we are making progress and things are starting to come together at the right time,” said Fletcher.

Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) was second fastest in cross-country to move up from 34th to 17th. All four U.S. men cracked the top 30 with Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) 22nd and Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) 29th.

“Solid day for the Team. Bryan stayed strong on the last half of the last lap and all of a sudden was sixth. Taylor was impressive again, individual time trial to get as many points as possible. Johnny is finally feeling a bit better on the hill and needs a few races to get race ready.  Billy jumped better in training but had a decent race,” commented Dave Jarrett, Head Nordic Combined Coach.

The World Cup continues Sunday with a penalty race format where athletes ski a designated number of extra short laps based on jump finish.

Full results HERE.