November 20, 2008 – The Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup kicks off this weekend in Gällivare, in the north of Sweden. The town of 18,000 inhabitants is situated in the middle of Lapland about 70km north of the Arctic Circle. “All preparations are done: the tracks in the ski area of Dundret are ready and cold temperatures are expected towards the weekend,” said Lars-Gunnar Pettersson, chief of competition in Gällivare.

A total of 24 nations including Canada and the United States will take part in the opening of the 27th FIS Cross-Country World Cup season which features interval start competitions over 10km (ladies) and 15km (men) in free-technique on Saturday, Nov. 22 and relay races on Sunday, Nov. 23.

Kris Freeman, Andy Newell, Torin Koos and Chris Cook will compete for the U.S. in the 15km and a relay event. “I am really confident about the preparation we’ve done this year. We could surprise ourselves with a good result, but I’m really looking down the road. I’m viewing this as more of a preparation weekend,” said XC Head Coach Pete Vordenberg.

The Canadian contingent of Devon Kershaw and Stefan Kuhn will be launching their assault on the World Cup circuit this Saturday with a 15km skate competition. This will be Kuhn’s first ski competition for the 2008/09 season while Kershaw will be looking to build upon his 3rd and 4th place finished at last weekend’s 15km classic and skate FIS races in Bruksvallarna, Sweden.

Arriving next week for the second World Cup of the season will be Canadian Olympic gold medalist, Chandra Crawford, along with teammate Perianne Jones, and US skier Kikkan Randall, who became the first US female to win an XC World Cup last season in Russia. This will be the first XC World Cup sprint race of the season on Nov. 29 in Kuusamo, Finland, followed by a mid-distance classic race on Nov. 30.