STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (Dec. 15, 2018) – Austria’s Paul Gerstgraser won a sprint to the finish with American Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) to earn his first Continental Cup victory in nearly four years Saturday night in Steamboat Springs. USA Nordic’s Tara Geraghty-Moats (W. Fairlee, Vt.) took her second straight win.
Japan’s Ryota Yamamoto led after the jump, soaring 71.0 meters – long ride for the morning. Gerstgraser started one minute, seven seconds back with Fletcher one minute, 20 seconds out. A pack quickly formed and charged around the Steamboat Rodeo Grounds course which featured a two kilometer loop with a punishing alpine ski area uphill, a screaming downhill and twists and turns through the spectators. Within a lap, the chase group was charging.
On the final lap, it came down to a pack of over a dozen skiers attached to each other in a peloton. On the final climb, Gerstgraser and Fletcher attacked with the Austrian staying behind the American. Gerstgraser made his break coming into the stadium. On a hard left turn into the final stretch, Fletcher was behind and found himself unable to sprint up for the win. Third went to Norway’s Lars Buraas – a career-best finish.
“I knew Taylor would catch up and I had to save as much energy as I could for the last lap,” said Gerstgraser. “I attacked at the last hill and knew I had to just stay behind him until we got close to the finish line.”
Geraghty-Moats found herself fourth after the jump. Norway’s Gyda Westvold Hansen led after the jump, but saw her 23 second lead over Geraghty-Moats evaporate quickly in the 5k cross country event. Geraghty-Moats took a 40 second margin over the Norwegian, who finished second overall. Veronica Gianmoena of Italy was third.
It was Geraghty-Moats’ second straight Continental Cup win, and third straight going back to last August’s Summer Grand Prix victory in Oberwiesenthal, Germany.
“Finally getting to race nordic combined was a blast,” said Geraghty-Moats, who has also been competing on the FIS World Cup Ski Jumping tour. “I’m proud of how I stuck to my plan and had good results both days.”
It was another strong night for the Americans. In addition to Fletcher’s second straight podium, Jared Shumate (Park City, Utah) was sixth for another career best. Jasper Good (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) was eighth to match his top career finish. Six American men finished in the points. It was another strong day for a pair of young Steamboat Springs women’s athletes. Tess Arnone, just 15, finished seventh with Annika Malacinski, 17, taking ninth.
“I was impressed by Tess and Annika,” said Geraghty-Moats. “They have a really good competition mindset and I’ll be excited to watch them develop in the sport.”
