March 12, 2008 – Here is the special World Cup Final preview edition of the FIS Cross-Country News. There are only three competitions left this World Cup season and we are looking forward to an exciting and challenging Final. Enjoy the reading and the final days of this Cross-Country winter!

World Cup Final in St. Caterina

From 14th to 16th March, the Viessmann FIS World Cup season will have its final weekend with the World Cup Final in St. Caterina Valfurva in Italy. The home town of the famous Alpine skier Deborah Compagoni is situated in the region of Valtellina, only 11 kilometers from Bormio, at an altitude of 1734m over the sea level. In 2008, Santa Caterina will be the host of a World Cup weekend for the fourth time after 1993, 1995 and 2000.

169 athletes from 23 nations will take part in the premiere World Cup Final – a competition series with three races in three days – a so-called “Mini Tour”. The 2.5 and 3.3 km prologue races in the free technique are scheduled for Friday, 14th March, the 10 and 20 km classical technique mass start races will be held on Saturday, 15th March, and the 10 and 15 km handicap races in the free technique on Sunday – the very last races during this World Cup season. Every athlete will have to take part and finish all the races to get any World Cup points (max. 300 World Cup points) or prize money (total amounts 240.000 CHF for both genders).

The time scores registered in Friday’s races will be added to those from Saturday’s races to create the starting order (handicap) for Sunday’s race. So the first to cross the finish line on the last day will be the winner of the “mini-Tour.” No World Cup points are awarded for Saturday’s competition, but Sunday’s points for the overall victory will be doubled (max. 200 points), and the points (max. 100) for Friday’s prologue will only be awarded to the athletes that cross the finish line on Sunday.

The Cross-Country Final promises to be very interesting: The courses are challenging and selective and the decisions in five rankings are open as only the men’s overall World Cup and the distance World Cup have already been decided with winner Lukas Bauer (CZE), who’s had a “dream season” (quote Lukas Bauer). Anything could happen during the weekend, especially when somebody is not in a top shape, since the courses at the altitude of 1734 –1802 m will be extremely hard.

Really tight is the standing in the sprint World Cup ranking on the men’s side where Ola-Vigen Hattestad (NOR) is now leading with only 2 points ahead of Emil Joensson (SWE). For them, it will be a challenging prologue over the distance of 3,3 km in the free technique because both are stronger in the classical style and have not often competed in a distance race this season. For Joensson and Hattestad, it will be the first World Cup trophy in their career.

On the ladies side, Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) is fighting to defend her overall World Cup with a lead of 210 points ahead of runner-up Astrid Jacobsen (NOR). Petra Majdic from Slovenia would like to win the first World Cup trophy ever for a Slovenian Cross-Country athlete – she is now in the lead of the sprint World Cup, 74 points ahead Jacobsen and 76 points ahead of Kuitunen.

Also the distance World Cup is open: Valentina Shevchenko (UKR) is in the lead with 35 points over Jacobsen and 77 points over Kuitunen. For Shevchenko it would be the second distance World Cup trophy after winning in the season 2003/2004.

Last but not least, the Finnish ladies team is fighting for their second team cup victory after 2007 but Norway would like to have this title back. At the moment, Norway is leading 226 points ahead of Finland. As you can see, it will be a hot weekend

But not only Cross-Country is on the program during the FIS Grand Finals. Also Alpine, Snowboard and Freestyle will have their Finals in the region of Bormio – it will truly be the ‘FIS Grand Finals’ – come and join us!

More information here

Starting times:

Friday, 14th March
– Prologue F Women 14.00h*
– Prologue F Men 14.45h*

Saturday, 15th March
– 10 km Mass Start C Women 14.00h*
– 20 km Mass Start C Men 16.00h*

Sunday, 16th March
– 10 km F handicap start Women 14.00h*
– 15 km F handicap start Men 16.00h*

World Cup standings in numbers

Below please see for the overview of the current World Cup standings. The top 6 of the World Cup ranking will for the first time receive prize money for their overall result and also the Rookie of the Year – the best U23 athlete – will be honored with 2’700 CHF. In total 180’000 CHF will be distributed, 90’000 CHF per gender. The overall winner will get 31’500 CHF for the best performance in all the disciplines over the whole year.

Overall Ranking Women
1. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) 1325 pts
2. Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) 1115 pts *best U23
3. Charlotte Kalla (SWE) 1019 pts
4. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) 928 pts
5. Petra Majdic (SLO) 892 pts
6. Arianna Follis (ITA) 843 pts

Distance Ranking Women
1. Valentina Shevchenko (UKR) 607 pts
2. Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) 572 pts
3. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) 529 pts

Sprint Ranking Women
1. Petra Majdic (SL0) 564 pts
2. Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) 490 pts
3. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) 488 pts

Team Cup Women
1. Norway 4199 pts
2. Finland 3973 pts
3. Russia 2881 pts

Overall Ranking Men
1. Lukas Bauer (CZE) 1276 pts
2. René Sommerfeldt (GER) 770 pts
3. Tor Arne Hetland (NOR) 656 pts
4. Pietro Piller Cottrer (ITA) 583 pts
5. Axel Teichmann (GER) 543 pts
6. Tord Asle Gjerdalen (NOR) 540 pts

Best U23:
12. Emil Joensson (SWE, 1985) 448 pts

Distance Ranking Men
1. Lukas Bauer (CZE) 826 pts
2. René Sommerfeldt (GER) 450 pts
3. Anders Soedergren (SWE) 423 pts

Sprint Ranking Men
1. Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) 450 pts
2. Emil Joensson (SWE) 448 pts
3. John Kristian Dahl (NOR) 321 pts

Team Cup Men
1. Norway 6136 pts
2. Germany 2674 pts
3. Sweden 2452 pts

Nations Cup (Women & Men)
1. Norway 10335 pts
2. Germany 5488 pts
3. Finland 5393 pts

World Cup Final Rules in Brief

Overall result is based on the overall time score in all competitions
All racers have to finish all three races to earn points and prize money
Max. 300 World Cup points will be awarded it total – 100 points for the Prologue and 200 points for the overall result (200 points for the 1st, 160 points for the second, 120 points for the third place, etc.)
There will be bonus seconds (minus seconds) at designated intermediate points during the first and second stages (at one or more intermediate points), 15-10-5 seconds for the top three. At the end of the first and second stage, the top three will also get 15-10-5 bonus seconds
In total, 240.000 CHF will be awarded for both genders, 15’000 for the Prologue victory per gender and 30’000 for the overall victory per gender
In the mass start race the overlapping rule is valid, which means that the overlapped athlete will have to leave the race. The laps are 5 km long.

Q & A with Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country

The FIS Cross-Country News spoke briefly with Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country about his impressions of the Cross-Country season 2007/2008 and any future ideas.

CCN: On the upcoming weekend, we will have the last Cross-Country World Cup races in the season 2007/2008. What is your conclusion of the season so far?
Jürg Capol: It has been a very exciting season. We carried out all the FIS Cross-Country World Cup events. Especially in February we had some difficulties with the weather but thanks to the great effort of the Organizing Committees, all planned competitions took place.

From the sport perspective, we saw both old and new faces – with Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Astrid Jacobsen (NOR), two young ladies established themselves in the overall World Cup elite in their first year in the senior category. 19 nations have so far been on the podium this season which shows us that Cross-Country Skiiing has a high value in a lot of countries where they work in a professional manner in this sport.

Our highlight this season was for sure the 2nd edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear. For the first time, we carried out 8 competitions in 10 days and reached an additional 25 % TV viewers during the entire Tour compared to the first edition.

CCN: In St. Caterina, the upcoming weekend the Cross-Country season will for the first time complete with the World Cup Final – a kind of “Mini-Tour”. What was the intention behind this competition series?
Jürg Capol: With this World Cup Final we will create excitement until the last meters of the event and of the entire Cross-Country World Cup season. A lot of World Cup points, 300 in total, can be earned during this long weekend and also the prize money of 240’000 CHF is an additional incentive for the competitors.

But for that, all the racers have to work hard as all of them have to finish the entire World Cup Final to get the points and prize money. What is also a plus of this World Cup Final is that the sprinters as well as the distance racers have their final on the same weekend and can conclude the season together.

CCN: What can the spectators expect from the World Cup Final?
Jürg Capol: It will be a really exciting and attractive event – five titles are still open, the overall World Cup of the ladies, the sprint and distance World Cup of the ladies, the sprint World Cup of the men and also the team cup of the ladies. Only Lukas Bauer is already certain as both the overall World Cup winner and distance World Cup winner for the men.

All the world’s best athletes will be present and fight for the last time this season for World Cup points on the challenging tracks in St. Caterina.

CCN: When we look into the future – what would you as FIS Race Director change in the Cross-Country sport to make it more attractive?
Jürg Capol: On my “To do list” I have several task for the future. First of all, I will work in the development and improvement of the TV quality to ensure that all events have the same standard and viewers at home will always have the same TV “look and feel”. Second, I would like to create more highlights and create clear focus in the World Cup calendar. Compact events are an advantage for the athletes as well as for the fans, TV viewers and sponsors. The cooperation in the marketing issues between all the World Cup Organizers is also an important development project as well the improvements in the rights situation so that we can execute more effective cross-boarder projects.

Facts and Figures of the World Cup So Far

The season 2007/2008 is in the final countdown, since only the Mini Tour with three races per gender, is left. When we look back to all the 66 individual (including Tour de Ski) and 10 team competitions that took place so far, we can conclude that it was a successful season. All scheduled competitions were organized and in total 19 countries have finished on the podium. This is a record number of nations ever on the podium after the previous record was set during the season 2006/2007 when 17 nations achieved podium places.

But that is not the only historical highlight. Madoka Natsumi delivered for the first time ever a podium place for Japan with her third place in the Sprint competition in Stockholm. Kikkan Randall won for the first time a World Cup competition for the ladies team of USA in the history of the FIS World Cup series. Only on the men’s side the USA has so far had 5 World Cup victories from Bill Koch on its account. The third place in the Sprint of Kuusamo for Alena Prochatkova, is the first female podium place ever for Slovakia after the division of Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993. Last but not least, Remo Fischer from Switzerland made history as his third place last weekend was the first podium place for his country in the traditional 50 km Holmenkollen race.

Leading the World Cup medals table this season is Norway with 20 victories, 20 second places and 9 third rankings ahead of Czech Republic (6-3-1) and Finland (5-7-9). The most successful athletes so far are Virpi Kuitunen and Lukas Bauer with a total of 5 victories each this season while Astrid Jacobsen has reached the most podium places so far with 9 places under the top 3.

Important Dates

– March 14-16, 2008 – Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup in St. Caterina, (ITA)
– May 25-31, 2008 – FIS Congress in Cape Town

March 6, 2008 – The final stages of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup are underway. Here is an update on the traditional World Cup competitions in Norway. Included in this issue, is a review of the FIS Nordic Junior World Championships and U-23 Cross-Country Worlds in Malles (ITA). Enjoy the reading!

Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup presented by Rauch
City Sprint in Drammen

On 5th March, the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country Sprint race was held in the Drammen city centre for the 6th time in a row. The 1 245 metre track, which encircles both the main square and the Bragernes church, prived to be much harder than originally expected.

About 7,000 cubic metres of artificial snow was transported from the Konnerud ski arena. The track was built within two days and stood out as white and appealing as the athletes approached the starting line on Wednesday afternoon at the main square.

As in previous years, thousands of spectators attended the races, creating an euphoric atmosphere. Some even stayed overnight in a tent camp by the church to get a good view the next day.

But not only did the top athletes have their competition in Drammen. The day before the sprint race a Mini World Cup was held for children four years old and older. In 2006, about 1,450 children competed on the same track where their ski heroes sweated it out the next day. This year, around 2,000 competitors participated.

Click here for more information.

Traditional Holmenkollen World Cup on Saturday
Last Time in the Old Stadium

The annual Holmenkollen Nordic World Cup weekend with competitions in all the Nordic disciplines will take place from 8th- 9th March, for the last time in the old stadium. The Organizing Committee of the World Championships 2011 will start to rebuild the stadium with the Cross-Country tracks and the Ski Jumping hills after this winter season. Traditionally the Cross-Country athletes will compete over a distance of 30 km (ladies) and 50 km (men). This year the races, which are the 38th and 39th Cross-Country World Cup competitions in Oslo, will be held in the free technique.

For the third time, the FIS will trial the pit stop with the possibility of ski change in the stadium, what means that the ladies have the possibility to chance their skis once and the men, two times.

“The snow conditions in Oslo are good, the required preparation in the stadium and on the first kilometer will be done with artificial snow from the Drammen Ski area “Konnerud”, but in the woods we have good snow conditions and the long loop, the 16,7 km course will be ready for the competitions on Saturday,” says Jürg Capol FIS Race Director Cross-Country.

The famous Holmenkollen races are always a festival for the Norwegians. Many of them, from young children to the grandparents, stay in the woods in tents the night before and cheer all athletes to a top performance during the day.

Click here for more information.

Starting times – Saturday, 8th March
– Interval start race 30 km,F Women 9.45h*
– Interval start race 50 km F Men 12.15h*
*local time

Top three in March 2007

30km C Women
1. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN)
2. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN)
3. Petra Majdic (SLO)

50km C Men
1. Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset (NOR)
2. Tobias Angerer (GER)
3. Frode Estil (NOR)

Top three in March 2006

30km F Women
1. Julija Tchepalova (RUS)
2. Katerina Neumannova (CZE)
3. Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle (GER)

50 km F Men
1. Anders Soedergren (SWE)
2. Giorgio Di Centa (ITA)
3. Tom Reichelt (GER)

Voices
Interview With Sprint Newcomer Cyril Miranda

22-year-old Cyril Miranda from the Jura region in France is one of the newcomers in sprint races, especially in the classical ones. Miranda, who is half French, half Portuguese, made the A-Final last week in Stockholm for his first time, took silver in the Sprint race at the U-23 World Championships in Malles and even with a broken pole in the quarter final in Otepää (EST), managed a 10th place there. The Cross-Country News had a chance to talk with Cyril Miranda before the last classical Sprint in Drammen.

CCN: You made the A- Final in a Sprint race in Stockholm for the first time, breaking the Scandinavian dominance in the classical sprint and finishing with your career best 5th place. Were you surprised about it?
Cyril Miranda: This was of course my goal but I was still surprised to reach it as early as this season. Being alone with 5 Norwegians in the semi-finale was amazing. Challenging all the classic Sprint specialists on their turf was exhilarating. I decided to take the lead as soon as possible in order to avoid being boxed in, that was the best tactic.
It’s a big step in my career and it’s motivating to see that I can be that competitive.

CCN: For French skiers the classical sprint was never a favourite discipline, what is the reason for this success?
Cyril Miranda: I don’t know, I can’t speak for the other French racers. As for me, classic technique has always been my favorite style and I’ve always worked on it more.

CCN: Tomorrow, the last classical sprint race in this season is on the schedule, what have you planned for that race?
Cyril Miranda: The first step is to make it through all the heats. That’s never easy and especially not in Norway. If I do qualify then I’ll do my best to reach the A-Final again.

CCN: You are a quite young skier; you are for sure not looking only to this season – what is your big aim in your sports career?
Cyril Miranda: All of us have the same dream and ambition: earning an Olympic or World Championship medal. I will train hard next year in order to reach this goal. Right now I’m a better sprinter, but I want to improve in distance races and not restrict myself to sprints.

Blog by Vegard Ulvang: Cross-Country season 2007/2008

Every fourth year, we have a CC season without a Championship. This year the second edition of the Tour de Ski became just the highlight that we had hoped it would be. Lots of exciting fights kept the tension up for ten days before Charlotte Kalla and Lukas Bauer were crowned as our biggest stars on top of Alpe Cermis. The bad start due the cancellations in Oberstdorf ended with everyone focused on the sport and the future potential of the Tour. I hope that Germany and other nations in the region will join us.

Russia is definitely back on the calendar again with their new stadium in Rybinsk. It was a great pleasure to feel the atmosphere among the big Russian CC audience. Their new stadium and courses are among the best we can find in the WC circuit.

I have also got very positive feedback from the races in Canmore. Again, we can congratulate the Canadians for excellently organised competitions in real winter conditions and courses and stadiums well-adapted for our new race formats. I was really jealous sitting in rainy Oslo watching the snow-covered mountains around Canmore.

In Otepää and Liberec, the organisers were fighting with summer temperatures. Looking into the future it is obvious that the darkest clouds for CC skiing are connected to the snow situation. This year we have seen that not only a lack of snow causes a problem; to run the snow guns we also need minus degrees….

The effect of global warming is creating more and more trouble for our traditional organisers. The scientists predict a serious threat to our activity in the next 50-100 years. We all have a common responsibility trying to reduce the world’s total release of greenhouse gas emissions.

I look forward to watching the last races in Drammen, Holmenkollen and the big final in Bormio. For the men, the fight is over after a very strong season by Lukas Bauer while among the women it’s still an open fight between Kuitunen and Jacobsen. The mini tour in Bormio with three races in three days and 300 points in the pot will give us the answers.

I wish the athletes good luck and thank all the organisers who with all their volunteers do a tremendous job for CC.

Yours, Vegard Ulvang

FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Cross-Country Ski Championships
Successful week in Malles

The FIS Junior and U-23 World Ski Championships in Cross-Country took place in beautiful, sunny weather from 22nd to 29th March in Malles (ITA, Val Venosta). Everybody agrees that they were amazing competitions and a great Organizing Committee that jumped in 10 days beforehand for the Polish town of Szczyrk that had to withdraw due to lack of snow.

“For the young skiers, it is very important to have a Junior and U-23 World Championships. I was very happy that the Organizers from Malles led by Alfred Lingg took the races over and hosted the Champs,” says Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country. “And as many, many voices have told me, it was a great success – A big “thank you” to the Organizer and Volunteers from Malles!”

The “Queen” of the FIS Junior World Championships in Malles was Therese Johaug (NOR), who won two individual gold medals and also one with the team. Olga Tiagai of Russia collected two gold medals in the individual distance events in the U-23 category.

On the men’s side, Alex Harvey from Canada, the son of the three-time World Cup winner Pierre Harvey was the most successful junior skier finishing fourth twice in individual competitions and winning the silver medal in the classical 10 km race.

In Malles, Norway won the medals table with four gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Russia finished 2nd with 3 gold medals, and two bronze and silver medals each. Sweden took 3rd (2-3-1) while France was 4th (1-4-1) ahead of Germany (1-1-3). Altogether, 12 countries won medals, eight of them gold.

The Marc-Hodler Trophy, for the best nation at the FIS Nordic Junior World Championships, was won by Germany with 128 points ahead of Norway and France.

Winner overview:

FIS Junior World Championships:
– Sprint F Women: Laure Barthelemy (FRA)
– Sprint F Men: Calle Halfarsson (SWE)
– 5km C Women: Therese Johaug (NOR)
– 10km C Men: Hans Christer Holund (NOR)
– Pursuit 5 + 5 km Women: Therese Johaug (NOR)
– Pursuit 10 + 10 km Men: Philipp Marschall (GER)
– Relay Women: Norway
– Relay Men: Russia

U 23 World Championships
– Sprint F Women: Vesna Fabjan (SLO)
– Sprint F Men: Robin Bryntesson (SWE)
– 10km C Women: Olga Tiagai (RUS)
– 15km C Men: Martin Jaks (CZE)
– Pursuit 7,5 +7,5 km Women: Olga Tiagai (RUS)
– Pursuit 15 +15 km Men: Dario Cologna (SUI)

Click here for the detailed results.

Important dates
– 8th March 2008 Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Oslo (NOR)
– 14th – 16th March 2008 World Cup Final in Bormio/St. Caterina (ITA)

January 11, 2008 – The second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear is now history. For the first time, the series took place with eight competitions in 10 days at four venues from 28th December 2007 to 6th January 2008. Today, we would like to provide a short review and say ‘Thank you’ to all the different parties that supported the Tour. If you have any comments, please don’t hesitate to contact me at spitz@fisski.ch

Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear – New King and Queen Crowned

The second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear, held in Nove Mesto, Prague (both CZE), Asiago and Val di Fiemme (both ITA), was a success.

The rules, further refined after the first edition, worked out in principle and the goal to bring the different specialists together to compete in one and same event was again reached. With the newcomer Charlotte Kalla from Sweden and the Czech Lukas Bauer, the Tour found a new king and queen of Cross-Country Skiing in an incredibly exciting fashion.

Compared with last year, FIS Tour de Ski – the baby of the Tour fathers Vegard Ulvang and Jürg Capol – has grown to be a child but still it is not an adult yet. There are some details which need to be refined and developed further. However, the athletes, teams, organizers and the media – in fact, all the different stakeholders – support the idea of the Tour de Ski and will help craft the plans for the upcoming years. The Tour de Ski has established itself as one of the highlights on the Cross-Country racing calendar.

Hundreds of articles were written, many radio feeds done and the Tour also received a big interest on TV. “TV ratings were rising with the excitement of the Tour and on the final Sunday, we had a lot of spectators in front of TV around Europe. In terms of TV, the first of January was a great success, as we had for example in Germany 3.96 million TV viewers,” says Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director. Other top rates were announced by NRK (Norway) with 916 000 TV viewers while in Sweden 1 265 000 spectators followed the women’s Final Climb competition where their local hero Charlotte Kalla fought for victory.

To develop such a competition series many stakeholders are needed. Today, the Tour Board would like to take the opportunity to thank the Official Tour Sponsors, Viessmann and Craft Sportswear, the four organizing committees in the two Tour de Ski countries: Nove Mesto and Prague in Czech Republic, and Asiago and Val di Fiemme in Italy, the media for their enormous reporting, our Web Editor Finn Marsland, who supported our Media Department in a fantastic way, Katarina Medveczky, whose support was instrumental in more ways than we can count, the Jury Members, and all the other supporters for their engagement. Last but not least, the national teams deserve a big thank you for their cooperation and sportsmanship.

After the end of the second Tour de Ski there is much talk about the next season and the next Tour de Ski. The FIS Cross-Country Committee will undertake a detailed assessment over the course of the next months and contact the potential Organizing Committees so that they are in a position to make decisions and confirm the calendar for the 3rd FIS Tour de Ski during the FIS Congress in Cape Town (RSA) in May. Also the Tour Board will conduct a detailed analysis where they seek feedback from all the different parties, including the teams, sponsors, organizers and the media. The organizers will hold a debriefing meeting after the season in the spring. All these results will then provided as information to the Cross-Country Committee to aid its decision-making process.

Exiting Finale of the Tour

After 10 days and 8 Stages, the 2007/08 Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear is over. On the ladies’ side, Charlotte Kalla (SWE) stormed to win the 2nd edition of the Tour in spectacular fashion on the last Stage. In the men’s event, Lukas Bauer (CZE) was never in doubt on his way to cross the line first on Alpe Cermis, Val di Fiemme (ITA). In total 45 ladies and 59 men from 17 different nations reached the finish line at the Alpe Cermis after the Final Climb.

The 20-year-old talent Kalla caught Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) a third of the way up the Final Climb and made a decisive break with one kilometer to go. Arianna Follis (ITA) took third place, just ahead of Valentina Shevchenko (UKR) who skied the fastest ladies’ time of the day to move up from 12th place to 4th. Kalla and Kuitunen had duelled for the leader’s golden jersey for most of the Tour, with Kuitunen wearing it for five days although Kalla recorded a total of three Stage wins. Thanks to winning 2:49 minutes in time bonuses, Kuitunen took the ladies’ Tour Sprint ranking. All in all, Kalla earned CHF 168’000 and whopping 642 World Cup points on the Tour. She now leads the FIS World Cup standings with 795 points.

In the men’s competition, the 30-year-old Czech Bauer collected the king’s crown after extending his lead over second place by nearly another minute during last Stage. Rene Sommerfeldt (GER) took second place in a dramatic sprint with Georgio Di Centa, posting the fastest time of the day to take the Italian right on the finish line. Altogether Bauer won five out of eight Stages of the Tour, conceding only the two sprint Stages and the mass start Stage 7 in which he scored the most bonus seconds. He netted a total of CHF 163’000 and 586 World Cup points from the Tour. In the men’s Tour Sprint Ranking, the victory and 10’000 CHF in prize money went to Norway’s Petter Northug who collected the most bonus seconds. Lukas Bauer now leads the FIS World Cup overall with 816 points over Tor Arne Hetland of Norway in 2nd with 515 points and Sommerfeldt in 3rd.

In the Tour Team Standing, the trophy went to Team Norway which ended up beating Team Russia by 4.21 minutes in the course of the eight Stages. Each day, the best two ladies and men on each team scored for the Team Standing.

Contributed by Riikka Rakic

Tour de Ski Facts

Overall Results women
1. Charlotte Kalla, SWE
2. Virpi Kuitunen, FIN + 36,4 seconds
3. Arianna Follis, ITA + 53,3 seconds

Overall Results men
1. Lukas Bauer, CZE
2. René Sommerfeldt, GER + 2:47,3 minutes
3. Giorgio Di Centa, ITA + 2:47,6,2 minutes

Sprint Ranking women
1. Virpi Kuitunen, FIN 2:36
2. Arianna Follis, ITA 1:49
3. Pirjo Muranen, FIN 1:46

Sprint ranking men
1. Petter Northug, NOR 1:44
2. Tor Arne Hetland, NOR 1:44
3. Giorgio Di Centa, ITA 1:36

Tour team standing
1. Norway
2. Russia + 4:21,2 minutes
3. Italy + 6:07,0 minutes

Results last Stage women (Final Climb)
1. Valentina Shevchenko, URK
2. Kristin Steira, NOR
3. Claudia Nystad, GER

Results last Stage men (Final Climb)
1. René Sommerfeldt, GER
2. Christian Hoffmann, AUT
3. Martin Bajcicak, SVK

Overall World Cup ranking women:
1. Charlotte Kalla, SWE 795 points
2. Virpi Kuitunen, FIN 669 points
3. Arianna Follis, ITA 601 points

Overall World Cup ranking men:
1. Lukas Bauer, CZE 816 points
2. Tor Arne Hetland, NOR 515 points
3. René Sommerfeldt, GER 514 points

Prize Money List (total World Cup with Tour de Ski),
Women:
– Charlotte Kalla, SWE 180.250 CHF
– Virpi Kuitunen, FIN 141.250 CHF
– Arianna Follis, ITA 69.000 CHF

Men:
– Lukas Bauer, CZE 194.500 CHF
РRen̩ Sommerfeldt, GER 109.000 CHF
– Giorgio Di Centa, ITA 55.250 CHF

Best of comments on Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear

Charlotte Kalla (SWE), Tour winner:
“There are many feelings in my mind now. I can almost not believe that this is true, it’s like a dream. I have prepared for the Tour for a long time now so it feels kind of empty now that it is over, but I also feel a lot of joy.

I think it’s great to have eight competitions in Tour de Ski. There should not be more or less competitions. It’s been a wonderful week but you feel now that you have a lot of races in your body.”

Virpi Kuitunen (FIN), 2nd place, Sprint ranking winner:
“Kalla is very good at skating, and I think she will be a tough one to beet in the future. I hope to be strong in the classical technique.”

Lukas Bauer (CZE), Tour winner:
“Tour de Ski was very hard for me but I guess it was the same for everybody. The final stage was crazy, but maybe it was just as well that I had no experience from previous season.”

Rene Sommerfeldt (GER):
“Lukas was training with us last season. The training was very different from what he was used to but now he is collecting the fruits of this hard labor.”

Petter Northug (NOR), Sprint ranking winner:
“I like this competition style and I like TDS. I think this amount of races are enough I think we all now feel that we have had two hard weekends, now I’m looking forward to some days of rest. For me it doesn’t matter if its 6 or 8 races, but I prefer 8 races.”

Vegard Ulvang (NOR, Chairman of the FIS Cross-Country Committee):
“I am very happy overall. We saw many good races and very good sport. As the President of the International Ski Federation said last night, last year, the Tour was a baby. It is a one-year-old child now. All children learn something new all the time and we, too, will continue to work and develop the Tour.”

Juerg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country:
“One of the main goals for the Tour de Ski was to create interest for the sport of Cross-Country Skiing. And that we have achieved! In terms of the number of TV viewers and number of media on site, the Tour is a totally different story from the regular World Cup races. This is the 2nd year of the Tour and we can say it has established its own character, it has found its space on the calendar and delivers a strong image. This year, too, we could create a good story that developed Stage after Stage.”

Charlotte Kalla (on New Year’s Day):
“Yesterday evening we had a singing competition (Sing star) at the hotel – Sweden against Norway. For sure Sweden won!”

Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset, NOR (before the first Pursuit race with handicap start):
“I liked this race, in the intermediate time I was a few seconds ahead of the others, but they were very strong in the end. Tomorrow’s race will be good for me, I’m a good hunter (smile).”

Website www.tour-de-ski.com

Our website at www.tour-de-ski.com received a lot of hits in the last few months. We would like to let you know that also after the Tour de Ski this site will contain up-to-date interesting information about everything around Cross-Country Skiing as well as about the development of the third FIS Tour de Ski. Be sure to know what is going on and visit www.tour-de-ski.com

Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup presented by Rauch
Four World Cup events in Canada

After a break of more than two weeks, the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country will continue in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, in Canmore, which is situated 100 km west from Calgary. From 22nd to 26th January, the athletes will compete in four different World Cup races (per gender) in the Canmore Nordic Centre which was developed for the 1988 Winter Olympics. For the World Cup in 2005, the government of Alberta invested significantly to refurbish the Center to a high level standard. The Centre features more than 70 kilometers of world-class racing trails at an average elevation of 1425 meters.

About 195 athletes from 20 nations are expected to compete on the challenging courses just outside the famous Banff National Park. The competitions will start on 22nd January with Pursuit races for ladies and men. On the following day, the sprinters will be able to show their strength in a classical sprint race on a 1,4 km course. After a rest day, on Friday 25th, the traditional interval start races over 10 km (ladies) and 15 km (men) are planned. The Canadian competition week will have its final on Saturday, 26th January with a Sprint competition over 1.1 km in the free technique.

“We are happy to have Canada on the World Cup schedule. Especially in view of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver it is very important for the International Ski Federation to create and develop the knowledge base. I’m sure that the Canadians will organize great competitions in a good atmosphere as they did already in December 2005, when they hosted the Cross-Country World Cup last,” stated Juerg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country.

Beside the top level sports program, the Canmore Organizing Committee has created a nice social program. The kick off will be on 19th January with a kids’ race called the World Cup Festival Youth Ski Tournament, which is a part of the Bow Corridor Regional Race Series. This series is a supporter of Right-To-Play, an international organization dedicated to creating a “healthier and safer world for kids through the power of sport and play”. From 22nd of January there will be event program on each race day in the town including a medal presentation for the top athletes of the day.

More information: www.albertaworldcup.com

Starting times:

Tuesday, 22nd January
– Pursuit, 7.5 + 7.5km, Women 11:00am* (7pm CET)
– Pursuit, 15 + 15km, Men 12:30pm* (8:30pm CET)

Wednesday, 23rd January
– Sprint, classical technique Qualification, 10:00 am* (6pm CET)
– Sprint, classical technique Finals, 12:30pm* (8:30pm CET)

Friday, 25th January
– 10 km free technique, Women 11:00am* (7pm CET)
– 15 km free technique, Men 12:30pm* (8:30pm CET)

Saturday, 26th January
– Sprint, free technique Qualification 10:00am* (6pm CET)
– Sprint, free technique Finales 12:30pm* (8:30pm CET)

*local time

Top Three December 2005

10km Free Technique Women
1. Julija Tchepalova (RUS)
2. Beckie Scott (CAN)
3. Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle (GER)

15km Free Technique Men
1. Pietro Piller Cottrer (ITA)
2. Vincent Vittoz (FRA)
3. Tobias Angerer (GER)

15km Mass Start Classical Technique Women
1. Beckie Scott (CAN)
2. Julija Tchepalova
3. Claudia Künzel (GER)(RUS)

30km Mass Start Classical Technique Men
1. Tobias Angerer (GER)
2. Frode Estil (NOR)
3. Jens Filbrich (GER)

Team Sprint Women
1. Germany (Henkel, Bauer)
2. Canada (Scott, Renner)
3. Sweden I (Andersson, Dahlberg)

Team Sprint Men
1. Norway I (Svartedal, Roenning)
2. Sweden I (Lind, T. Fredriksson)
3. Sweden II (M. Larsson, Oestberg)

FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships – Szczyrk is confirmed

FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships and U 23 Cross-Country Championships in Szczyrk (POL) are confirmed to take place from 3rd to 10th February 2008. The construction work in the Cross-Country Stadium in Istebna near Wisla, where the Cross-Country competitions will be carried, is finished and the tracks homologated. All the youngsters can look forward to FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships and U23 Championships in the home country of the famous ski jumper Adam Malysz. Please click here for detailed information.

Important dates

– 22nd-26th January 2008 – Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Canmore (CAN)
– 29th January 2008 – 15th edition of the Cross-Country News
– 3rd-10th February 2008 – FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Szczyrk (POL)
– 9th-10th February 2008 – Viessmann FIS World Cup in Otepää (EST)

December 19, 2007 – Welcome to the 13th edition of the FIS Cross-Country News. The season so far has been very successful for the Cross-Country sport and we are now looking forward to the second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear with 8 Cross-Country competitions in 10 days.

Second Edition of Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear Starts December 28
10 days, 8 races, 4 venues in two countries – that will be the Tour de Ski 2007/2008

The start will be in Nove Mesto na Morave (CZE) on December 28 and 29 with the prologue in the classical technique and a handicap start race (that means that the athletes start with the time difference from the first Stage) with 10 km (women) and 15 km (men) in the free technique. The first sprint will be take place in Prague (CZE) on December 30. This will be the first ever World Cup competition in Cross-Country in the capital of the Czech Republic. After the cancellation of Oberstdorf, Nove Mesto na Morave took over the competitions of Oberstdorf and will now also host the fourth and fifth Tour de Ski Stages. In the program are a handicap start race 10 km (women) and 15 km (men) in the free technique on New Year’s Day, and an interval start race 10 km (women) and 15 km (men) in the classical technique on January 2. After a rest day, the Tour will continue in Asiago (ITA) on the golf course with a sprint race in free technique on January 4.

The last venue will be in the valley of ‘Fiemme’, the host of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in 2003. On January 5, 2008, the athletes will compete in a mass start race over 10 km (ladies) and 20 km (men) in the classical technique. The last competition on January 6, the already famous ‘Final Climb,’ will start in the Cross-Country Stadium Lago di Tesero and end on Alpe Cermis, with the last climb stretching over 3.7 km with an altitude climb of 425m. The ladies will race 9 km and the men 10 km in the free technique.

The snow conditions in Nove Mesto na Morave are good. They have about 20 cm of natural snow and were able to produce enough snow to host all the competitions in the last several days. The Sprint venue Prague is also ready! The Italian venues Asiago and Val di Fiemme recently had a cold weather period, too, and produced – and will continue to produce – artificial snow for the second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear. We are ready- come and join us at the Tour 2007/2008!

More information: www.tour-de-ski.com
Start times & program: click here.

Top three last season:

Women
Overall
1. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN)
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) + 1.17,5
3. Valentina Shevchenko (UKR) + 1,20,8

Tour Sprint Ranking
1. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) 130 seconds
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 105 seconds
3. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) 77 seconds

Men
Overall
1. Tobias Angerer (GER)
2. Alexander Legkov (RUS) + 46,4 seconds
3. Simen Oestensen (NOR) + 50,2 seconds

Tour Sprint Ranking
1. Tor Arne Hetland (NOR) 73 seconds
2. Thobias Fredriksson (SWE) 68 seconds
3. Simen Oestensen (NOR) 59 seconds

The Snow for Prague is Ready for Skiing

www.virtualprague.net

Although there is no snow in the historical centre of Prague nowadays and the weather forecast doesn’t show any change for the next couple of days, the organizers of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski Stage and E.ON Prague Ski World Cup race at Hradcanske square on December 30th are optimistic: We have enough snow for the race!

During last month, they produced 3500 cubic meters of artificial snow in the resort of Horní Vltavice. “Only” 2500 cubic meters are needed to cover the course of 450 meters for the freestyle sprint competitions.

“Thanks to the freezing weather, we don’t have a big problems with snow production,” says the organizing committee chair Katerina Neumannova.

The organizers produce some 20 centimeters every night. “Today, we have more snow than we need for the race and we continue to produce in the next few days as we still have to have some back-up because of the particularities of the venue in Prague,” adds the organizing committee vice-chairman Ludek Saska.

On December 27, 60 big trucks will bring the snow to Prague where it will be loaded in some smaller cars to get to the course which is situated in the historical centre of the Czech capital city. The untraditional site for the race brings some specific conditions for the organizers such as that the preparation of the course and all the backstage may only start on December 27.

And what to expect on December 30? The 1 km sprint will take place on the Hradcanske square on the course of 450 meters. The start will be situated close to the stands of Presidential guards which will have their parade near the course.

All the backstage including changing rooms will be situated in Trautmandorf Palace which used to be a prison. Come and see free-of-charge the great Cross-Country spectacle in Prague!

Seven Tour Trophies Up For Grabs

To reward the winners of the second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear, the Tour organizers will honor them with a special trophy: FIS partner Joska Kristall – based in Bodenmais, Germany, and world-known as the sole producer of the coveted FIS World Cup crystal globes – has produced the exclusive Tour Trophies that have the shape of the Summit of Cross-Country. The Tour trophies, totally 7, will be presented to the top three athletes (females and males) and for the first time also to the winners of the Tour Team Cup. FIS President Gian Franco Kasper will hand over the trophies together with sponsor representatives at the official Tour winner presentation on January 6 on Alpe Cermis.

Tour on TV

The Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear is transmitted live in several nations such as the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, and Sweden. Additionally several TV stations inform the TV viewers about the Tour highlights. Our Tour Partner Eurosport will also broadcast the second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski Europe-wide. Please check your local TV program for details or click here for the TV transmission times on Eurosport.

Tour A-Z
“L” as in “Leader Bib”

To make it easy for the viewers and spectators to identify the current leaders – the overall and sprint ranking leader – of the Tour de Ski, FIS spent considerable effort to re-design the Tour leader bibs.

As last year, the current overall Tour leader will wear a Golden Tour Leader Bib. And the current Sprint Ranking leader will carry a Silver Tour Leader Bib. The colors and the one-color clean design were selected to ensure that everybody could easily differentiate the yellow bib worn by the Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup leader and the Tour leader.

Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup presented by Rauch

Season so far:

The first period of the Cross-Country season is over. It was a very exciting and successful period with good snow conditions everywhere. 14 individual competitions and 6 team competitions took place whilst a total of 11 nations reached the podium and 7 of them the top position.

Some new faces appeared on the podium along with a few veterans. Tor Arne Hetland, a so-called sprinter claimed his first victory in a 30 km distance race while Natalia Matveeva (RUS), Josef Wenzl (GER), Astrid Jacobsen, Anders Gloersen (both NOR) and Kikkan Randall (USA) all took their maiden World Cup victories. Randall’s victory will be recorded in history as the first ever World Cup victory for the US ladies’ Cross-Country team. The Czech men’s team (Jaks, Bauer, Sperl, Koukal) also managed the first relay victory for the Czech Republic.

The new faces on the podium in the individual competitions were Alena Prochazkova (SVK), Natalia Korosteleva (RUS), Sami Jauhojaervi and Ville Nousianen (both FIN)

The most successful skier in the season until now was the sprint World Champion from Sapporo 2007, Astrid Jacobsen, with a total of 4 podium places. She will wear the ladies’ yellow bib on the Tour de Ski. On the men’s side, the leader is Axel Teichmann from Germany with three podium places by now. In the Nations Cup, Norway holds a clear lead of 1694 points.

“The season has so far been a total success and great promotion for the sport of Cross-Country skiing. We saw very exciting World Cup races with several athletes on the top. We also owe a great thanks to the Organizing Committees for their great work to host such good World Cup competitions. The on-site spectators and TV viewers alike increased and we had a great atmosphere at the venues, especially last weekend in Rybinsk where 20’000 spectators cheered all athletes, from the first to the last. I’m looking forward to seeing this trend continue on the Tour and at the World Cup races in Canada, says Juerg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country.

Four Questions to Astrid Jacobsen

The 20-year old Astrid Jacobsen from Norway has been the surprise of the Cross-Country season so far. The Sprint World Champion from Sapporo 2007 has made her mark in the distance races as well and is the current leader of the overall World Cup. Jacobsen won her first World Cup (in a distance race!) last weekend in Rybinsk. She gave the FIS Cross-Country News (CCN) a short interview about her future plans.

CCN: Astrid, your season so far has been great, you are the current leader of the Viessmann FIS World Cup. What are your expectations for the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear?
Astrid Jacobsen: My season so far was great and hopefully I can continue the season with many good races. For the Tour, I hope that I will race eight good races. Mostly I have one not so good a race and I hope that I’m more stabile this year. My ambitions are to be in the top ten in the overall results.

CCN: What do you think is the hardest part for you at the Tour?
AJ: For me, it will be the last Stage. I’m not used to ski such kind of races. I competed in an uphill race in Norway last year – it was longer than the Final Climb and it was very hard for me.

CCN: What is your opinion of the Final Climb?
AJ: The Final Climb is something special and it is very good for the spectators. But for me as I’ve never been a good climber it will be hard. I’m very curious how it will work for me compared to the other athletes.

CCN: How do you celebrate Christmas?
AJ: I will stay home and celebrate Christmas as usual with my family. In Oslo, we have no snow at the moment, so it will be a green Christmas with my yellow bib under the Christmas tree. We will already leave to Nove Mesto on the 26th.

Important dates
– December 27 – Opening Press Conference of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear
– December 28–January 6 – Second Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear
– January 6 – Tour Conclusion Press Conference in Val di Fiemme

December 6, 2007 – Welcome to the 12th edition of the FIS Cross-Country News. After the great Nordic Opening in Kuusamo/Ruka last weekend, the Cross-Country family is now looking forward to the World Cup competitions in Davos (SUI) and Rybinsk (RUS), as well as the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear. Today’s FIS Cross-Country News provides, among other things, the revised schedule of the Tour de Ski and previews of the upcoming World Cup competitions.

Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup presented by Rauch
Davos is ready

The Nordic Opening 2007 in Kuusamo/Ruka (FIN) is history. Now the Cross-Country family will move to Switzerland to the traditional World Cup site of Davos, which is situated in eastern Switzerland in the middle of the beautiful region Grisons. On 8th and 9th December the World Cup races called ‘Davos Nordic’ will take place. Individual start competitions over 10 km (women) and 15 km (men) in the classical technique will be held on Saturday. For Sunday, the relays are on the schedule – 4 x 5 km (women) and 4 x 10 km (men).

The snow situation in Davos and the stadium/tracks ‘Fluela’ is perfect with over 60 cm of snow and the weather forecasts predict snowfall in the next days. Davos is ready for the World Cup weekend!

21 nations are expected to start with about 75 women and 111 men, among them the two World Cup returnees Sara Renner (CAN) and Andrus Veerpalu (EST). Renner had her baby Aria during the last World Cup season and will compete in a World Cup race for the first time after 1 ½ years. Andrus Veerpalu, who has had knee and ankle problems that forced him to go through surgery this summer, is planning to compete for the first time in a World Cup race since March 2006.

The competitors also include one of the winners of last year’s 15 km free style competition in Davos, the home favorite Toni Livers (SUI). ”I am looking forward to the World Cup weekend in Davos. I hope that a lot of spectators will come so that we will have a great Cross-Country party. To achieve a result like last year, everything must be perfect, but we will do everything for that”, stated Toni Livers. (Click here for the complete interview)

Davos does not offer something only for the top athletes and spectators, which can attend the event free of charge. Traditionally, the Bjoern Daehli Kids’ Event will take place on Saturday, 8th December. Kids and teenagers aged 7 – 17 may ski on a fun course together with Bjoern Daehli and other stars from the Cross-Country scene.

More information: www.davosnordic.ch

Schedule

Saturday, December 8
10 km classical technique women 10.00h*
15 km classical technique men 11.30h*

Sunday, December 9
Relay 4 x 10 km men 11.00h*
Relay 4x 5 km women 13.45h*

*local time

Top three last season in Davos (February 2007):

Distance race, classical technique
Women Men
1. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) 1. Toni Livers (SUI)
2. Olga Savialova (RUS) 1. Vincent Vittoz (FRA)
3. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 3. Christian Hoffmann (AUT)

Relay
Women
1. Sweden (Andersson, Stroemstedt, Norgren, Kalla)
2. Norway 1 (Bjoergen, Steira, Jacobsen, Skofterud)
3. Finland (Venaelaeinen, Roponen, Manninen, Saarinen)

Men
1. Russia (Chernousov, Novikov, Babikov, Shiriaev)
2. Italy (Santus, Piller Cottrer, Checci, Di Centa
3. France (Jonnier, Gaillard, Rousselet, Vittoz)

Includes contributions by Swiss-Ski.

Cross-Country a la Cartoon

Thomas Zipfel, the FIS Tour de Ski designer, has put together a brand-new booklet called ‘Cross-Country a la cartoon’ including over 50 cartoons from the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear and the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country. Zipfel, a former top skier from Germany, will present the booklet and his awesome, very detailed cartoons for the first time during the FIS World Cup in Davos Nordic Lounge. For those who cannot join the World Cup family on the upcoming weekend, the cartoon booklet can be ordered soon at www.thomaszipfel.de for contributions towards the cost of 8 Euro (plus shipping). *1 of the sales price goes directly to the Tour Charity which this year supports Corsin Hoesli (click here for more information about the Tour Charity).

Second Cross-Country World Cup in Rybinsk

For the second time, Rybinsk will host the Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country presented by Rauch. After the successful return of the World Cup to Russia last February, the competitions will take place from 15th to 16th December in Rybinsk, which is situated in the Jaroslawl region, 320 km north-east of Moscow.

The competition schedule contains, on Saturday, two mass start races over 15 km (women) and 30 km (men) in the free technique and, on Sunday, the sprint races also in the free technique. For the first time, FIS is planning to include a pit stop in the stadium with the possibility to change skis in a mass start race. Last season the pit stop was trialled in the traditional Holmenkollen individual start race and now for the first time in a mass start race.

The Demino Ski stadium, 18 km outside of Rybinsk, is ready for the World Cup. By now, most of the tracks are prepared and enough snow has been produced in the last few weeks. During the summer, the OC of Rybinsk optimized the infrastructure and built a parking lot for about 5000 cars to bring all the spectators easily to the exciting competitions.

More information: www.demino.com/worldcup/en

Schedule

Saturday, December 15
Women: 15 km F 11:00h (9:00h CET)
Men: 30 km F 13:00h (11:00h CET)

Sunday, December 16
Women/Men:
Sprint Qualification 10:00h (8:00h CET)
Final 11:30h (9:30h CET)

Top three in January 2007

Distance race, free technique
Women
1. Riitta-Liisa Roponen (FIN)
2. Katerina Neumannova (CZE)
3. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN)

Men
1. Alexander Legkov (RUS)
2. Emmanuel Jonnier (FRA)
3. Tobias Angerer (GER)

Sprint, free technique
Women
1. Arianna Follis (ITA)
2. Claudia Kuenzel-Nystad (GER)
3. Kikkan Randall (USA)

Men
1. Renato Pasini (ITA)
2. Nicolai Pankratov (RUS)
3. Tobias Angerer (GER)

FIS Continental Cup Series Underway

Beside the World Cup, the younger athletes will gather important competition experience in the different Continental Cup series during the winter. The Continental Cups represent the most important level of competitions below the World Cup and their importance has grown since the national quotas for the World Cup were reduced three seasons ago. Several Cups, most notably the so-called OPA Cup in the Alpine countries, the SuperTour in the US, the NorAm Canada Cup and the Scandinavia Cup have shown to be great for developing new stars for the world stage.

The 2008 SuperTour season started already 23rd of November in West Yellowstone (USA) and will include 14 competitions over the winter. This season, the SuperTour will award its millionth dollar in prize money, which is the highest amount of prize money in the Continental Cup series. The OPA Cup with a total of 12 different venues during the season will begin on the upcoming weekend in Formazza (ITA) while the kick-off of the Scandinavian Cup is planned on the 14th December in Vuokatti. The results of all the Continental Cups will be available here.

Last year’s winners in the referenced Continental Cup series (with personal starting right in the first World Cup period):

OPA: Marina Piller (ITA), Dario Cologna (SUI)
Scandinavia Cup: Astrid Jacobsen (NOR), Oeystein Pettersen (NOR)
SuperTour: Caitlin Compton (USA), Lars Flora (USA)

Includes contributions USSA

Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear
New Venue Sought

The Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear 2007/08 will consist of eight races in ten days as planned. Contrary to the original schedule, however, there will be no races in Oberstdorf (GER) on 1st and 2nd January, 2008. The International Ski Federation (FIS) is currently in detailed discussions with several venues interested in taking over the fourth and fifth Stages of the FIS Tour de Ski 2007/08.

“FIS put in a significant effort to find a solution to meet the needs of DSV and make the races in Oberstdorf possible. Unfortunately, DSV maintained its position that it would only carry out one Tour event on 2nd January. For the Tour as a competition series, it was not an option to skip the races on 1st January,” stated Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country.

The new Tour venue will be confirmed in the next few days.

Four Questions For Petter Northug

The Norwegian top athlete Petter Northug (NOR) is one of the favorites to the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear 2007/08, which will finish on his 22nd birthday. Petter gave the FIS Cross-Country News (CCN) an update on his preparations during the summer, his views of the Tour de Ski and the World Cup.

CCN: Petter, the Cross-country season has started already, what is your feeling? Are you well prepared for the competitions?

Petter Northug: I`ve trained very well during summer and autumn. But after Duesseldorf I`ve had some problems with my stomach! I did not participate in our national opening in Beitostølen or any of the World Cup races since Duesseldorf.

CCN: We heard that you now are supported by Bjoern Daehli. How is this cooperation and what have you changed for this season?

Petter Northug: I`ve talked with Bjoern a few times. It is very interesting to listen to his experiences as Cross-Country skier. I`ve not changed much in my training. A little bit more training, but otherwise more or less the same.

CCN: What do you think about the Tour de Ski, the new competition series in Cross-Country, including sprints, distance races and a Final Climb?

Petter Northug: I LOVE IT!! I think it’s that this is very good for Cross-Country as a sport. It is very interesting for public, and in Norway it was also a very big TV-happening!

CCN: What are your expectations for the upcoming Tour de Ski and the entire World Cup, which will end in Bormio (ITA) with the first-ever ‘FIS World Cup Final’?

Petter Northug: My goal is to try to be better than number 4 in the overall World Cup as last year. To be on the podium is a realistic goal for me! If everything goes my way, I hope I can be on the podium for the overall World Cup.

Tour Fan Trips

After some technical problems, the site for the Fan Trips to the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Crafts Sportswear is now online. The Tour Board is pleased to introduce, together with its partner Proske Group, a Tour Fan Trips program designed for all passionate Tour de Ski Fans. This is the chance to come and enjoy the Tour de Ski 2007/2008 in a very unique way! Separate packages are available from the beginning to the end of the Tour with accommodation close to the races, comfortable transport and much more. Please click here to get more information.

Tour From A-Z – T as in Tour Entries
Tour Entries – who will compete on the FIS Tour de Ski?

This has been one of the most frequently asked questions in the last few months. And now we have the answer: The deadline for the teams to register their athletes for the first edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear was on the 3rd of December. Overall, there will be 19 nations with around 80 ladies and 91 men at the start in Nove Mesto na Morave (Czech Republic) on 28th December.

There were no big surprises in the nomination of the participants for the Tour de Ski. All “big” names are included, with the exception of few of the sprinters, will be at start in Nove Mesto on the 29th of December, of course barring any illnesses.

The participating nations are:

– Andorra with a one-man team Francesc Souli
– Austria, with Christian Hoffmann and young Katerina Smutna in the ladies;
– Canada
– Czech Republic, with Lukas Bauer, the current World Cup leader
– Estonia, with the veteran Jaak Mae
– Finland, with the title defender Virpi Kuitunen
– France, with Vincent Vittoz, the winner of the Tour Pursuit race in Oberstdorf among others
– Germany, with the title defender,Tobias Angerer, and others including Axel Teichmann, Jens Filbrich, Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle and Claudia Kuenzel-Nystad
– Italy, with Olympic Champions Giorgio Di Centa and Pietro Piller Cottrer and, for the ladies, Arianna Follis
– Kazakhstan
– Norway, with all big names including Marit Bjoergen, Astrid Jacobsen, Therese Johaug, Eldar Roenning, Tor Arne Hetland and Petter Northug, to mention just a few
– Poland, with Justyna Kowalczyk
– Republic of South Africa, with a one-man team Oliver Kraas
– Russia, starting for example Alexander Legkov and Eugeni Dementiev,
– Slovenia, led by Petra Majdic
– Switzerland, including Seraina Mischol and Toni Livers
– Slovakia, led by Martin Bajcicak
– Sweden, with a strong team including Anders Soedergren and Charlotte Kalla.
– Ukraine, led by Valentina Shevchenko

These are only some examples. The complete list of the participating athletes will be available here.

Important dates

– December 7 – Media Invitation in Davos Nordic Lounge (5:30 pm)
– December 8–9 – FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Davos (SUI)
– December 15–16 – FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Rybinsk (RUS)
– December 18 – 13th Edition of FIS Cross-Country News

November 21, 2007 – Welcome to FIS Cross-Country News. After the great World Cup kick-off in Duesseldorf at the end of last month, the World Cup continues in Beitostoelen this coming weekend with the first distance races this winter. Today’s FIS Cross-Country News provides, among other things, a preview of the upcoming World Cup competitions. Happy reading!

Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country presented by Rauch.
Beitostoelen hosts the second Cross-County Weekend
by Kaare Weeg

After a great FIS World Cup kick-off in the German metropolis Duesseldorf, the next Cross-Country World Cup will take place in Scandinavia, in Beitostoelen – the well-known Norwegian winter ski village – this coming weekend, 24th-25th November.

Beitostoelen – situated about 220km in the north-west of Oslo on the foot of the Jotumheimen Mountain – has organized 14 FIS Cross-Country World Cup races. It has invested a significant amount of money since its last FIS World Cup events in November 2005. A total of 12 Million Norwegian Crowns were spent to update the infrastructure in the stadium (at approx. 900m) including a rebuilt stadium building, extended service area and many small details. The tracks were redesigned, too, and a 2.5 km loop was newly-made with the possibility to prepare it completely with artificial snow.

The World Cup organizers led by Asbjoern Windingstad had a great test with the Norwegian National Opening last weekend. Ten races in three days (Cross-Country and Biathlon) were carried out between Friday and Sunday. “Thanks to the new equipment for snow production, we were able to prepare a 5 km track which is now in perfect condition. And we will surely produce some more snow next week, says Windingstad, President of the Organizing Committee. “We are happy about the good snow situation, and are looking forward to seeing our friends again after two years and showing them our new facilities here in Beitostoelen, adds Erik Oestli, Secretary General of the Organizing Committee.

On the Beitostoelen competition schedule, there are, on Saturday, individual start competitions in the free technique over 10 km for ladies and over 15 km for men and, on Sunday, relay competitions. It is planned to have the first trial for using different starting intervals in an individual start race on Saturday, so that the top-ranked athletes will start with longer intervals compared with the first starters. 25 nations will be at start, including around 100 men and 90 ladies.

More information: www.beitoworldcup.com

Start times:
Saturday, 24th November
10 km free technique women 10.30h*
15 km free technique men 12.30h*

Sunday, 25th November
Relay 4x 5 km women 10.30h*
Relay 4 x 10 km men 12.45h*

*local time

Top three at last World Cup in Beitostoelen (November 2005):

Distance race, classical technique
Women
1. Marit Bjoergen (NOR)
2. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN)
3. Natalia Baranova (RUS)

Men
1. Tor Arne Hetland (NOR)
2. Jens Arne Svartedal (NOR)
3. Ivan Batory (SVK)

Relay
Women
1. Norway 1 (Pedersen, Gjoemle, Bjoergen, Skofterud Gjoemle)
2. Germany (Boehler, Henkel, Kuenzel-Nystad, Sachenbacher-Stehle)
3. Finland (Kuitunen, Vaelimaa, Saarinen, Roponen)

Men
1. Germany (Filbrich, Schluetter, Angerer, Teichmann)
2. France (Perrillat, Jonnier, Rousselet, Vittoz)
3. Norway 1 (Svartedal, Hetland, Hofstad, Roenning)

Nordic Opening in Kuusamo/Ruka

After the Beitostoelen weekend, the Cross-Country family will move to the north of Finland. From 29th November to 2nd of December, the traditional Nordic Opening, a joint weekend for all Nordic disciplines, will take place in Kuusamo/Ruka for the sixth time.

True season opener for Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined, this long weekend host all three Nordic disciplines at the very same stadium. 320 athletes from 27 nations will compete in a total of eight World Cup events at Ruka, a popular winter sport resort named after the local mountain (492m) located 25 km north of Kuusamo.

For the second time, the Cross-Country athletes will compete in a sprint race in the classical style on Saturday. The sprint course is a quite challenging one and very good for the classical sprint. On Sunday, 10 km (ladies) and 15 km (men) individual start competitions in the classical style are on the timetable.21 Nations will take part in the Cross-Country competitions weekend, 90 ladies and 117 men.

Traditionally, the Organizing Committee of Ruka has invested a lot of effort to entertain the spectators. This year, there are several live music performances and DJ’s on the schedule to ensure great atmosphere throughout the weekend.

More information: www.nordicopening.com

Start Times:
Saturday, 1st of December
Women/Men:
Sprint Qualification 10:00h (9:00h CET)
Final 11:45h (10:45 CET)

Sunday, 2nd of December
Women: 10km C 13:45h (12:45h CET)
Men: 15 km C 10:15h (9:15h CET)

Top three in November 2006

Sprint, classical technique
Women
1. Petra Majdic (SLO)
2. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN)
3. Marit Bjoergen (NOR)

Men
1. Jens Arne Svartedal (NOR)
2. Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset (NOR)
3. Tor Arne Hetland (NOR)

Distance race, classical technique
Women
1. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN)
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR)
3. Kristina Smigun (EST)

Men
1. Eldar Roenning (NOR)
2. Vincent Vittoz (FRA)
3. Anders Soedergren (SWE)

Perfect snow conditions in central Europe
by OC Davos

Central Europe has received a large amount of snow in the last two weeks. Also the fourth FIS World Cup venue Davos in Switzerland profited greatly from the heavy snowfalls. A meter of new snow guaranteed a perfect start into the winter season 2007/2008. The top athletes and talents from Switzerland, as well as some top skiers from southern Germany and Italy have already tested the tracks in the Cross-Country area Bünda. From 8th-9th December, Davos will be the center of around 160 Cross-Country top athletes from all over the World. Exciting races can be expected, and especially the Swiss athletes are hoping to repeat their good results from last year. The organizing team is looking forward to a great World Cup weekend. For more information on the World Cup and snow conditions in Davos, please click here.

Lukas Bauer Interview

30-year-old Lukas Bauer from the Czech Republic is a top skier in the FIS Cross-Country World Cup, and a winner of 15 km Olympic Medal in Torino 2006 as well as three FIS World Cup races. Unfortunately he couldn’t start in the first edition of the Tour de Ski due to an illness. Lukas Bauer, who won the 15 km classical technique test race in Muonio (FIN) last Saturday clearly ahead of the two Russians, Nikolay Pankratov and Alexander Legkov, gave the Media Chief of Nove Mesto an update on his preparations during the summer and his view of the Tour de Ski.

FIS Cross-Country News: We heard that you had two operations – is everything fine now?
Lukas Bauer: Yes, I had two surgeries after the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship in Sapporo 2007. In April, the doctor removed my tonsil and at the end of June, I had a knee tendon operation. But now I am ready for the winter season 2007/2008 and will start in Beitostoelen.

FIS Cross-Country News: Last season you trained with the German Team, what have you done this summer?
Lukas Bauer: I held a one week training camp with the Czech national team on the glacier in Dachstein (AUT) but then missed the second camp because of some problems with my wisdom tooth.

FIS Cross-Country News: What do you think about the Tour de Ski?
Lukas Bauer: I am looking forward to my first start on the Tour. Last year, I was ill shortly before the Tour and so I decided to prepare myself for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo. But I watched the Tour on TV. From my point of view, it looked like a very hard race without a rest. For me, the Tour will be the highlight of the season.

FIS Cross-Country News: Are you afraid of the Final Climb?
Lukas Bauer: No, I’m not afraid of it – the Final Climb isn’t a problem for me!

Includes contributions by Jiri Posvar

Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear
Official Tour de Ski Magazine soon available

The official Tour de Ski Magazine with all the necessary information on the second Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski, compactly presented in a single magazine, will be available from 23rd November. The official Magazine, now available in English and German, includes all you ever wanted to know about the Tour de Ski: from the description of each Stage to accommodation information to a presentation of the Tour favorites and newcomers, and a lot more.

The German edition is available from 23rd of November together with the Nordic Sports Magazine in most newspaper and magazine shops in Germany, Switzerland and Austria (especially at train station and airports), or directly at www.nordicsports.de . The English issue can be obtained together with the Norwegian SKIsport Magazine from 14th December in the Norwegian magazine shops or under www.skisport.no .

Tour Charity – Corsin Hoesli (SUI)

The Tour Charity project premieres with the second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft. The Tour Board has pledged to support persons and groups from within the sport who need our support. This year, the Tour Board decided to support the young talent Corsin Hösli, who is currently trying to master his own personal Tour de Ski as he is fighting to get an upper hand over his illness, acute lymphocytic leukaemia, dignosed last May. Join Corsin’s team today to help him master his personal Tour de Ski.

The great Tour de Ski of Corsin Hösli

We often read about sporting heroes. We admire their speed, their endurance and their stamina. We are impressed by their extraordinary performances. They fascinate us and fix us under their spell. Everyone knows them – they are stars. But not all the heroes are stars, or stand in the limelight.

The village of Zernez is located in the Swiss canton of Grisons, in the midst of the striking landscape of the Engadin between the well-known Alpine passages of Flüela, Ofen and Albula at an altitude of 1474 metres. Our focus is on one of the 1074 inhabitants of Zernez. His name is Corsin Hösli. He is 15 years old and a passionate cross-country skier. For more, read on the Tour de Ski Website by clicking here.

Tour Blog by Vegard – The Winter is Back
by Vegard Ulvang

The winter is back, earlier than in a long time. After a miserable snow winter last year, it is almost unbelievable that many ski resorts in Europe are already covered with snow.

Listen to this: You are not dreaming, it’s 18th of November, and most of our World Cup resorts already have snow. In Nove Mesto, where we had to cancel the Prologue of the Tour last year, people are skiing in more than 40 cm of fresh snow. This is also true in most of Scandinavia where the temperatures in the last month have been lower than in years. We can only hope that it will continue this way. Everyone involved in Cross-Country Skiing from the youngest recruit to our top athletes, and not least the ski industry, are sharing the same dream.

For the athletes, the focus has suddenly changed. After months of preparation and thousands of hours of hard exercise, the talk is no longer about training hours but about minutes and seconds behind or before, about a slow or a quick start. In Muonio and Beitostølen, we saw the first winners of the season.

Virpi Kuitunen and Marit Bjørgen have both had a good start…Please click here to read the whole blog

Tour de Ski nominated for Sports Marketing Prize 2008

The Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear has been nominated for the Sports Marketing Prize 2008. Initiated by Sponsors.de in 2003, this prize is designed to honor the most outstanding projects in sports. This year, around ten projects have been selected by a Sponsors.de jury from among the submissions made by various stakeholders in the sports industry.

The winners will be selected by means of online voting that will be open from 3rd-17th December on the www.Sponsors.de web site. The winner prizes will be awarded in conjunction with the ISPO 2008 trade fair in Munich (GER) on 28th-29th January, 2008.

The 2007 Sports Marketing Prize winner was FIFA Marketing & TV GmbH with its FIFA World Cup Fan Fest Public Viewing, followed by Deutsche Telekom with its advertising campaigns “Welcome Tricots” and “Alex” and Coca Cola, with its “It’s your Heimspiel (home match)!- Make it real!” campaign during the FIFA World Cup 2006. For more information, see here.

Contributed by Riikka Rakic

Tour from A-Z

V as in Venues: Where are the different Tour Venues? Below please find brief descriptions of the different venues at each Tour Stage and their competition courses.

Nove Mesto: The cross-country stadium in Nove Mesto na Morave is situated about 5 km from the town center, at the ski resort next to the SKI Hotel. This is the starting point of well-known Cross-Country skiing trails in the area of the Ochoz forest. The Organizing Committee has improved the courses and installed a new artificial snow production system.

Prague: Somebody might ask: “Where can one ski in the city of Prague?” The answer is that the Tour de Ski will take place in the old town in front of the castle. The Organizing Committee led by the former Cross-Country skier Katerina Neumannova will stage a free-style sprint competition with a dramatic backdrop.

Oberstdorf: A pursuit and individual start competition (for each gender) will be held on the courses of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2005, including the famous “Burgstall” uphill. The Ski Stadium “Ried” is situated about 3 km from the center of Oberstdorf.

Asiago: The Cross-Country course, where the Tour’s second sprint competition in the free technique will take place is situated south of the town of Asiago, ca. 5 km from the center on a field where, in the summer, there is a golf course.

Val di Fiemme: The Cross-Country stadium is situated approx. 5 km east of Cavalese, the main city of Val di Fiemme. This stadium at Lago di Tesero was also used at the FIS World Ski Championships in 2003. For the last race of the Tour de Ski, the athletes will ski from the stadium on the Marcialonga track to the Final Climb and then 3.5km up to Alpe Cermis.

For detailed course maps and profiles please click here to download them.

Important dates

– 23rd November – Official Tour Magazine available
– 24th-25th November – FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Beitostoelen (NOR)
– 30th of November – FIS Cross-Country Press Conference in Ruka
– 1st-2nd December – FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Kuusamo/Ruka (FIN)
– 4th December – 12th Edition of FIS Cross-Country News

October 5, 2007 – Today, we would like to introduce you the new FIS Cross-Country News – the successor of the FIS Tour de Ski Newsletter – which will be bringing you regular news from the world of FIS Cross-Country during the upcoming season.

The FIS Autumn Meetings took place in Zurich (SUI) over the last few days. Several FIS Committees came together for their traditional pre-season sessions, making the last refinements for the upcoming FIS World Cup and preparing proposals for the FIS Council. In today’s special Zurich edition, we focus on last weekend’s discussions and proposals relating to Cross-Country. Happy reading!

Overview of Tour rule changes

Team Cup not only at World Cup
by Nordic Focus

Everybody agreed that the inaugural Tour was a success and that the basic idea works. For the second edition, the FIS Cross-Country Committee led by Chairman Vegard Ulvang reviewed the rules and made some adaptations already at the FIS calendar meeting in Portoroz (SLO) in May. A summary of the most important rules amendments follows:

Newly introduced will be the Tour Team Cup – a team scoring. In each Stage, the racing results (time score) of the two best ladies and two best men per nation will count for the Team Cup.

To provide the sprinters with additional opportunities, the new Tour rules include increased Bonus Seconds. This means that the winners of the sprint races will receive a time bonus of 60 (rather than 50) seconds. The second placed will get -56 seconds, the third -52 seconds and so on until the 30th ranked athlete will earn -1 second. Moreover, additional intermediate sprints are included in this year’s Tour de Ski in three distance races (both competitions in Oberstdorf, one in Val di Fiemme).

Another novelty in the rules is that if a racer loses more the 18% (ladies)/ 15% (men) compared with the winner’s time in an individual start race then she or he is excluded from the rest of the Tour. Overlapping and skipping a race will also lead to exclusion.

In total, one million Swiss francs will be awarded to the most successful athletes, the King and Queen of Cross-Country, the winners of the Sprint Ranking and the daily Stage winners. In the first edition of the Tour, the prize money was reduced only due to the cancellation of the first two races.

For the World Cup, the top 15 athletes will get half of the normal World Cup points for each Stage provided the athlete finishes the Tour and in the end, the winners will get 400 (4 x 100) World Cup points as last year. This means that if one athlete wins all races and the overall Tour ranking, they will receive 800 World Cup points – click here for an overview of the World Cup points on the Tour de Ski.

Voice of an athlete on the FIS Tour de Ski

by Nordic Focus

2005 World Champion in Pursuit, Vincent Vittoz (FRA)

“The first edition of the Tour de Ski was a great experience. Judging by the interest shown by the media and the public, this new event will be very positive for Cross-Country Skiing. The transfers between locations add a new dimension that can be hard to manage and that can impede on the racers’ recovery time. It was also noted that in order to be competitive for the final ranking, a racer’s shape and equipment (skis/wax) had to be optimum for every race. This is where I did not perform well enough last year. I hope we will be able to learn from our mistakes in order to achieve my main goal which is to earn a top ranking at the Tour.”

70th anniversary of Golden Ski

The traditional ŒGolden Ski’ turns 70! With the kick off of the second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski races in December, the Golden Ski event in Nove Mesto na Morave will celebrate its 70th anniversary.

The Golden Ski is the most famous skiing competition organized in Nove Mesto and belongs among the oldest skiing races in the Czech Republic and in Europe. The first edition took place on 6th-7th January 1934. It was founded by Secretary of the Ski Association of Czechoslovak Republic Josef Jílek, who presented the Sport Club with a new trophy ˆ the Golden Ski of the Bohemian and Moravian Highlands. His objective was to motivate young athletes with this new attractive prize. He found his inspiration in the Parsenn Derby of Davos (SUI), which is one of the oldest Alpine races. The trophy was passed on year-after-year and the athlete who won the main race in Nordic Combined three times back-to-back or five times in total became its keeper. Bohumil Kosour (1913 – 1997), who won the race in 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942 and 1949 is so far the only athlete to keep the trophy. The Sport Club donated a new prize thereafter ˆ an approximately 15 cm long ski made of 14 carat gold together with a detailed binding.

Since 1974, as the statutes of the competition were changed, the winner of the main Cross- Country race for the men becomes a keeper of the Golden Ski prize. “The Golden Ski has been organized as a FIS World Cup event many times and it is now also the kick-off of the FIS Tour de Ski. We are very proud of that and hope that a lot of ski fans will come to Nove Mesto and celebrate with us on 28th-29th December,” says Petr Honzl, President of the Organizing Committee.

Contributed by Martina Honzlova

Norwegian Sprint Coach Ulf Morten Aune in interview

by Langrenn.com, Thomas Furuheim

Ulf Morten Aune, the long-term Coach of the Norwegian Sprint Team including the overall Sprint FIS World Cup winner 2006/2007 Jens Arne Svartedal as well as Tor Arne Hetland and Eldar Roenning, presented a coach’s perspective to the FIS World Cup TD Seminar. His presentation focused on the rules for sprint competitions. After the presentation, he took the time to provide an update on his team’s preparations for the FIS Cross-Country News.

Sandra Spitz: How has the summer training been for the great Norwegian sprinters?

Ulf Morten Aune: Beside the injury of Tor Arne Hetland, who had some problems with his tendon and had a cast on his arm for six weeks, and Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset, who had a virus infection in his eyes due to an insect bite; I’m very satisfied with our preparations until now. In the first week of October, we will travel to Central Europe to train in Livigno (ITA) and later on the glacier in Val Senales. We always try to train in the altitude and sun at this time of the year ˆ in the North, the days are already short.

Sandra Spitz: What are your team’s goals for the start of the season?

Ulf Morten Aune: To have the chance to race for the victory. As you know, in Sprint everything can happen such as, for example, crashes or broken equipment ˆ but when I see that we could be on the top or are there, we will have reached our goal for the early season.

Sandra Spitz: From your point of view, have the so-called ŒSprinters’ a chance to win the Tour now that the rules of the Tour were changed e.g. more sprint bonus points will be awarded?

Ulf Morten Aune: It’s good that the Sprinters now have the possibility to win more bonus seconds. But because of an additional distance race (compared to the last Tour) this advantage is gone. Athletes who will be up front must be able to race all distances in both styles well ˆ the Tour is really something for the all-rounders.

Sandra Spitz: Who are your biggest favorites for the second edition of the Tour?

Ulf Morten Aune: Certainly Tobias Angerer ˆ if he is in the same shape as last season he is unbeatable. But we should not forget Axel Teichmann, who got ill last time, or the strong Russians including Alexander Legkov. From our team, we too have athletes who will fight for the victory: Northug, Hetland, Oestensen and Svartedal, for example.

Tour from A-Z

Tour Sprint ranking winner 06/07
by Nordic Focus

S as in Sprint ranking

At the Tour de Ski, there will be – in addition to the overall time score – a Bonus Seconds system. The FIS Tour de Ski Sprint Ranking will be calculated on the basis of these Bonus Seconds, as last year. The winner of the FIS Tour de Ski Sprint Ranking will be the athlete (male & female) who has collected the most Bonus Seconds by the end of the FIS Tour de Ski.

The Sprint Bonus Seconds for the Overall FIS Tour de Ski Ranking will be calculated as listed below. Bonus Seconds are subtracted from the competitor’s actual racing time before being added into the overall time score. For this season, the Bonus Seconds were increased from 50 seconds for the first place to 60 seconds.

– 1st place = 60 seconds 5th place = 44 seconds
– 2nd place = 56 seconds and so on until
– 3rd place = 52 seconds 30th place = 1 second
– 4th place = 48 seconds

There will also be more Bonus Seconds awarded at intermediate points in distance competitions during the FIS Tour de Ski. These intermediate bonus points were introduced in the first edition and helped increase excitement. The Bonus Seconds will amount to 15, 10 and 5 seconds for the first three athletes at a designated intermediate point. The top three of the Stage will also get Bonus Seconds (15, 10 and 5 seconds) in distance races. Please see for an overview of bonus seconds below:

– Nove Mesto, Prologue, Individual start: Bonus seconds at the Finish
– Nove Mesto Pursuit, Å’Handicap Start’: No bonus seconds
– Prague, Sprint, Mass start: Bonus seconds for all athletes in the Finals
– Oberstdorf, Pursuit, Mass start: Bonus seconds at designed intermediate points on each lap (for ladies at 1km ; 3.5km; 6.5km ˆ for men at 1km, 6km, 11.5km, 16.5km) and at the Finish
– Oberstdorf, Distance race, Individual start: Bonus seconds at one intermediate point (at 1.8km)
– Asiago, Sprint, Mass start: Bonus seconds for all athletes in the Finals
– Val di Fiemme, Distance race, Mass start: Bonus seconds at designed intermediate points(for ladies at 3.3km and 6.6km ˆ for men at 3.3km, 6.6km, 13.2 km and 16.5km) and at the Finish
– Val di Fiemme (Alpe Cermis), Pursuit (Final Climb), Å’Handicap Start’: No bonus seconds

Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country presented by Rauch

FIS Autumn Meetings

Last weekend, the FIS Autumn Meetings were held at Hotel Hilton Zurich Airport (SUI). Besides the meetings of the FIS Sub-Committee for World and Continental Cups and the FIS Cross-Country Executive Board, an update for the World Cup Technical Delegates (TDs) and an Organizers’ Seminar were on the schedule. The TDs received a rules update while having an opportunity to discuss several important points of their work. A premiere on the schedule was the integration of a coach’s view of specific details in Cross-Country Skiing. Ulf Morten Aune, the very experienced Norwegian Sprint Coach, provided a detailed view on the specialties of the Sprint races which the TDs followed with great attention.

On Saturday, it was time for the World Cup Organizers’ Seminar including the World Cup TD’s. In the morning, several speakers presented new ideas on cooperation possibilities. In the afternoon, the focus shifted to brainstorming on “how to effectively cooperate in the future’ and finding some realistic solutions. With great participation from all attendees different points were presented in order for FIS and the Organizers to develop further by the next Organizers’ Meeting in the spring.

The Cross-Country World Cup calendar for the season 2008/2009 was one of the most important subjects in the Sub-Committee for World and Continental Cups as well as in the Cross-Country Executive Board. The draft calendar, including an early season Sprint kick-off together with the Alpine Opening, the 3rd FIS Tour de Ski and the Olympic test events in Vancouver, will be submitted to the FIS Council for consideration in November.

Other important points for the Committee and Executive were the optimization of the FIS World Cup Quota and accommodation rules, which will be refined in specific working groups by the next meeting in order to bring clear proposals to the FIS Council in the spring.

“We can look back to a very successful weekend. With the inclusion of the TDs in the OC Seminar, the sharing of experiences and knowledge, and dividing of the Organizers’ Seminar in two parts we took a great step forward in the development of these sessions,” says Vegard Ulvang, Chairman of the FIS Cross-Country Committee. “We also had good meetings with the Executive Board and the Sub-Committee of the World and Continental Cups, with good proposals and frameworks to work with during the winter until the next Committee Meeting at the FIS Congress in Cape Town in May.”

Important dates

– 8th/9th October 2007: Cross-Country TV Seminar in Zurich (SUI)
– 17th October 2007: FIS Day at the Forum Nordicum in Oestersund (SWE)
– 23rd October 2007: 10th edition of the FIS Cross-Country News
– 27th/28th October 2007: World Cup kick-off in Duesseldorf (GER)