PRAGELATO, Italy (Feb. 15) - Wendy Wagner (Park City, UT) and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) will lead the four-woman U.S. cross country ski team into Thursday's 10km classical technique race.
Wagner and Randall both ran strong in Tuesday's classical team sprint race. They will be joined by Abigail Larson (Bozeman, MT) and Lindsey Weier (Mahtomedi, MN), both of whom be making their second Olympic starts.
Weather forecasts call for a mix of rain and snow, absolutely the worst possible conditions for a classical race. Temperatures are expected to vary above and below freezing, making it a huge challenge for ski technicians to find the right combination of ski base structure, 'kick' wax and glide wax.
The race starts at 10 a.m. in Pragelato Plan. It is an interval start race, meaning racers start at 30-second intervals and race against the clock.