American Birkebeiner, the first Visma Ski Classics Challengers event in North America, took place today in the USA. The 50km long-distance race in skating technique was a scene for an international high-level competition, pleasant weather and beautiful landscapes.

With more than 4300 athletes from 27 different nationalities on the start line for the skating race, the big winners of the Challengers event were Niklas Dyrhaug and Jessica Yeaton.

In the women’s race, Jessica Yeaton from Australia completed the 50km race in 2:13:19.9. Second place went to Riitta Liisa Roponen from Finland and the American Erika Flowers completed the podium in third place.

Jessica skied strong throughout the day and from the last part of the race managed to open a good gap over the other athletes and cross the finish line alone, with more than 40 seconds to second place and 1 minute and 40 seconds in front of third place.

In the men’s race, the action was intense until the final meters of the race, with the decision remaining for the exciting final sprint with 8 athletes fighting for the top spot.

With a total time of 1:59:01.5, Niklas Dyrhaug from Norway became the winner, followed by the American Ian Torchia in second place and Pro Team athlete Robin Duvillard, Team Vercors Isere, from France, in third place.

American Birkebeiner results can be found at https://vismaskiclassics.com/results/

Next Visma Ski Classics Challengers event is La Savoyarde Caisse d’Épargne in France on March 8. Live results will be available in the Visma Ski Classics Live Center on https://vismaskiclassics.com/livecenter/ 

Photo Credit: ©2020 American Birkebeiner Ski Foundation