January 01, 2017 (Val Mustair, Switzerland) – USA’s Jessie Diggins raced to a solid 8th-place finish in the women’s 5k classic mass start on Stage 2 of the Tour de Ski at Val Mustair (SUI) and retained her sixth place overall.

Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg won with a 7-second victory over teammate Heidi Weng also claiming the overall Tour lead. Krista Parmakoski from Finland finished 3rd. Sweden’s Stina Nilsson, who led the Tour, struggled with the pace established by Oestberg, Weng and Parmakoski settling for 5th behind Switzerland’s Nadine Faendrich who recorded her best World Cup finish ever in 4th.

The USA’s Kikkan Randall rallied to finish 19th after a fall mid-race and sits 15th overall as she continues to improve with each outing. The former star is returning after a year off from the circuit to give birth to son Breck. Her teammate Sadie Bjornsen placed 35th, Sophie Caldwell was 38th, Rosie Brennan finished 39th and Liz Stephen was 44th.

“Today was a solid day for me,” said Diggins. “It was tricky to pace. If I could do it again, I would have paced it slightly differently. But I was happy with my skis and I’m chipping away at that striding technique! Overall I think I’m in a solid place for the Tour and I’m really looking forward to the next set of races.”

Randall was aided by a good start position as a result of her finish in the opening sprint on Saturday. “I was happy with another strong race today,” said Randall. “My shape feels a lot better and sharper than it did in period one of the World Cup. My skis were great today. The tracks were firm and fast and kick was easy – my favorite type of classic skiing! The course actually skied quite well at race pace, I really enjoyed the technical turns and the flow of the terrain.

“I really pumped to feel my race gears coming around and loving the chance to race race race. The organizers did an amazing job with this race and had a really nice Baby Room that my Mom utilized with Breck. They had diapers, a changing table and toys to play with plus gifts for all the mothers.  It’s really neat to see the OC’s getting behind the support for mothers,” added Randall.

Results here.
Overall here.