US shows solid form in first Toppidrettsveka appearance

By Published On: August 21st, 2015Comments Off on US shows solid form in first Toppidrettsveka appearance

AURE/ORKDAL, Norway – Olympian Sophie Caldwell opened the three-day Toppidrettsveka roller ski stage race on Thursday, finishing fifth in a classic sprint. Topidrettsveka is an annual weekend festival that this year has attracted the top World Cup cross country ski racers from Norway, Italy, Germany and the U.S. Ski Team. Norway’s Heidi Weng took the win.

Caldwell, who qualified 21st, had a strong quarterfinal heat. She finished just ahead of German star Denise Herman to take second behind Norway’s Kathrin Harsem, who led qualifying. She was fourth in her semifinal heat, just ahead of Norway’s Therese Johaug, to earn a lucky loser spot in the finals.

Weng led a Norwegian podium sweep in the finals, with Harsem second and Barbro Kvaale third. Caldwell was fifth in the six-skier finals field.

“Today was a really solid day for our team, but it was really tough! The morning started off with the uphill run and I was really impressed with the speed of my teammates. The run was solid for me, but it left me pretty exhausted,” said Caldwell after the race. “It was exciting to be fighting for a spot on the podium!”

Andy Newell led the U.S. men, qualifying 19th. He just missed out on advancing, finishing third in his quarterfinal heat. Simi Hamilton finished just after Newell, missing the quarterfinals. Petter Northug Jr. of Norway took the win.

All five U.S. Ski Team women qualified for the classic sprint heats. Jessie Diggins was 11th in qualifying to lead the USA. She was fourth in the same quarterfinals heat where Caldwell finished second. Kikkan Randall qualified 18th and was third in her quarterfinal heat. Caitlin Gregg and Liz Stephen also qualified for the heats, with Gregg sixth in the women’s fourth quarterfinal and Stephen sixth in the women’s third quarterfinal.

The stage race opened with an uphill foot run in the morning called the Fonna Opp. The USA scored a pair of podiums with both Noah Hoffman and Stephen finishing third.

On Friday, Stephen and Randall cracked the top 10 in the third stage of Toppidrettsveka — a 15k skiathlon at the Knyken ski center in Orkdal.

Norway’s Heidi Weng took the win over teammate Terese Johaug, with Germany’s Denise Hermann finishing third. Newell was the top American man in 24th, with Calle Halfvrsson of Sweden and Eirik Bransdal of Norway tying for the win.

Stephen, who was third in the opening stage uphill foot race, rolled to sixth — 1 minute 10.8 seconds behind Weng who won in 33 minutes, 55.9 seconds. Randall was 17 seconds behind Stephen in seventh place. World Championship medalist Gregg had a strong race, taking 11th. All three shone in the skate leg, quickly moving up in the pack. Diggins had a strong classic leg, leading the Americans into the exchange, but her foot bothered her in the skate leg. She took 16th. Caldwell was 28th.

Men and women race the same distance every day at Toppidrettsveka, and the race was intense on the short 2.5k loop. Newell was 1 minutes 9.7 seconds behind the leaders to take 24th place. Hamilton was 27th with Hoffman 33rd.

Stephen moved into fifth in the stage standings with her finish. Hoffman sits in seventh.

The weekend of racing highlights a two-week training camp for the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team in Norway. It’s the first time the team has been invited to take part in the popular pre-season roller ski race that has attracted most of Norway’s top World Cup skiers, plus teams from Germany and Italy. The race finishes Saturday in downtown Trondheim with a 15k pursuit.

Release courtesy of USSA

 

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