Diggins, Brennan Off to Solid Ski Tour Start

Jessie Diggins and Rosie Brennan led the way for the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team, finishing eighth and ninth respectively, in the opening stage of Ski Tour 2020 in Östersund, Sweden, Saturday.

“It was a good opening day of the Ski Tour 2020 for me,” said Rosie, who posted a couple of top-five early split times. “I didn’t perfectly pace it and lost a little in the closing kilometers, but I had much-improved race feelings so I am very satisfied and hope I can continue this way throughout the tour.” 

Racing under partly cloudy skies and on a firm track, Sadie Maubet Bjornsen was 22nd in the 10k individual start freestyle, Hailey Swirbul finished 36th, Caitlin Patterson was 40th, Alayna Sonnesyn was 43rd, Julia Kern 50th, Sophie Caldwell 51st, Katharine Ogden 53rd, and Rosie Frankowski 56th.

Norway’s Therese Johaug opened the nine-day, six-stage event with a 45-second victory over teammates Heidi Weng in second, and 47 seconds ahead of Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in third for the Norweigan podium sweep. 

In the men’s 15k individual start freestyle, David Norris was the top American in 36th. Simi Hamilton was 46th, Kevin Bolger was 71st, Ben Lustgarten finished 73rd, and Logan Hanneman was 86th. Norway also swept the podium in the men’s race with Sjur Roethe, Simen Hegstad Krüger and Finn Hagen Krogh going 1-2-3.

Stage two remains in Östersund with a classic pursuit Sunday. Stage three moves to Åre, Sweden, with a freestyle sprint Tuesday.

RESULTS
Stage 1 
Women’s individual start freestyle
Men’s individual start freestyle

Ski Tour 202 Schedule:
Sunday, Feb. 16
Stage 2 Östersund, SWE
Classic pursuit - 10k women; 15k men

Monday, Feb. 17
Rest day

Tuesday, Feb. 18
Stage 3 Åre, SWE
Freestyle sprint

Wednesday, Feb. 19
Travel day

Thursday, Feb. 20
Stage 4 Storlien, SWE (start) to Meråker, NOR (finish)
Freestyle 38k both men and women

Friday, Feb. 21
Travel day

Saturday, Feb. 22
Stage 5 Trondheim, NOR
Classic sprint

Sunday, Feb. 23
Stage 6 Trondheim, NOR
Classic pursuit, 15k women, 30k men

HOW TO WATCH
Sunday, Feb. 16
7:45 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men’s 15k pursuit, Östersund, SWE - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
9:45 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Women’s 10k pursuit, Östersund, SWE - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
12:30 p.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men’s 15k pursuit, Östersund, SWE - Olympic Channel*
1:30 p.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Women’s 10k pursuit, Östersund, SWE - Olympic Channel*

Tuesday, Feb. 17
10:15 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men and women’s sprint, Are, SWE - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Thursday, Feb. 19
4:45 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Women’s 38k mass start, Storlien, SWE - Meraker, NOR - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men’s 38k mass start, Storlien, SWE - Meraker, NOR - 5:00 a.m. - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, Feb. 22
7:00 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men and women’s classic sprint, Trondheim, NOR - Olympic Channel, OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, Feb 23
5:00 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Women’s 15k pursuit, Trondheim, NOR - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
7:05 a.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men’s 30k pursuit, Trondheim, NOR - OlympicChannel.com, NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m.. - Ski Tour 2020, Women’s 15k pursuit, Trondheim, NOR - Olympic Channel*
1:00 p.m. - Ski Tour 2020, Men’s 30k pursuit, Trondheim, NOR - Olympic Channel*

*Same-day broadcast

Note: All televised events to stream across NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app, OlympicChannel.com, and Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA app

Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass, available here: https://www.nbcsports.com/gold/snow.