COC-M: Bryan Fletcher wins again in Planica
Aug 31, 2018·Nordic Combined
41 athletes from 10 nations were welcomed by excellent conditions on the second day of the FIS Nordic Combined Continental Cup in Planica. Sunny weather brought out the amazing scenery only possible in the valley under the Ponce mountains.
The best jumping performance came by the hands of Austrian Martin Fritz, who landed at 131.0 meters and received 124.2 points. Yesterday's winner Bryan Fletcher of USA took the second position with the same distance and 2.2 points less, which converted to 9 seconds of time deficit before the cross-country race. Norwegian Simen Tiller was third (130.0 m, 120.3 p) and lagged 16 seconds.Same as 24 hours ago, the best Slovenian jumper was Rok Juvančič who took seventh place.
At the end, the older of the Fletchers brothers came out on top again with a solid performance on the 10km course. Fritz, who crossed the finish line 39.7 seconds after the American, took the seconds place and with that also the COC leader bib. Taylor Fletcher, who was ranked 15th after the jumping competition, was once again very fast on skis and managed to grab the final place on the podium. Leon Šarc of Slovenia finished the competition in 15th place.
Bryan Fletcher: "It was little harder today, the track was still fast but the conditions were tough because of the hard track. I’m also a bit tired from yesterday. Overall it was a good race, these guys put on a great fight. Hopefully, there will be more victories in two weeks."
Martin Fritz: "It was much better for me today. Conditions were better it was faster than yesterday. Also my skis ran really good. I wanted to have a fight with Bryan at the end, but he was 40 seconds faster, so it wasn’t the best fight. But I think it was OK for me."
Taylor Fletcher: "Today it was harder for sure. Snow was faster but softer still so you can loose control over the poles. You had to be careful not to go too hard. I think I’ve spent too much energy at the beginning and paid the price at the end. But any day on the podium is a good day. I’m looking forward to the next couple of weeks."
Matevz Persin
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