December 30, 2010 (Oberhof, Germany) – Sunshine, hard working waxing teams, athletes training, press conferences, team captains meeting and team presentation are some of the keywords from today. People are starting to run as time is flying here in Oberhof!

Compared to yesterday, the stadium was alive today. Banners and branding are now up, TV crews have set up their cameras, the organizing committee has prepared the entrances for public and teams, the media was present, athletes were testing their skis and the waxing crews have been running up and down from the stadium in order to have the best skis possible prepared for tomorrow. Everyone is still smiling though, a good sign for the start of the Tour de Ski.

Each day before the competition, a team captain’s meeting is held. The chief of the organizing committee leads the meeting together with the Jury Members and Race Director. They go through the start list, map of the course, rules each teams have to follow, when they can train before the race and general guidelines as to how things will run on Friday. All in all there will be 80 men and 58 women competing. The largest team is from Germany, but they have already announced that quite a few will only race in Oberhof and Oberstdorf.

The highlight of the day was the team presentation where all teams with their respective athletes and coaches came to the Oberhof Centre for a short presentation. A stage was built, and hundreds of fans were there to cheer for their athletes. It’s a good way for the fans to see their heroes, but also a great opportunity for the athletes to engage people to come and watch the Tour. The atmosphere was really good, and all athletes seem to be really excited. With only hours to go before the start tomorrow – set your alarm for 12:45pm (CET)! The men will start at 15:00pm (CET).

Oberhof Day 1-YouTube

Will the Tour Favourites Shine?
The first stage of Tour de Ski takes place in Oberhof on Friday for the third time – the Sprint Prologue is 2.5km for the women and 3.7km for men.

Helene Jacob representing Germany will be the very first athlete to start the women’s Sprint Prologue. As the start list is based on the current World Cup standings, Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) will be the last athlete to race. “I want to finish Tour among the top three in the Tour, that would be a god result for me,” said Kowalczyk who is the defending champ. “I like the second day in Oberhof the most – the Tour is a challenge and I will try to do my best in all stages.”

Justyna Kowalczyk before Stage 1

Alexander Legkov (RUS) will be the last athlete to start on the men’s side. Two-time winner of the Tour de Ski, Lukas Bauer (CZE) said, “I am ready for the Tour. I had a good Christmas time and now we can start. It’s always a tough race but I like the Tour and want to try to finish on the podium. The Prologue is an important race but it’s not going to decide the overall – you can loose in Oberhof and still win the Tour.”

Lukas Bauer before Tour de Ski Stage 1 in Oberhof

Nicole Fessel and Monique Siegel from the German team have not managed to recover from being sick and will not take part at the Tour. Norway will compete without Marit Bjoergen, Vibeke Skofterud and Kristin Stormer Steira. Bjorgen is following the same preparation as did last year – meaning she’s training instead of racing at the Tour de Ski.

TdS Race Director Jürg Capol commented, “It’s the fifth time for the Tour – we are ready – the OC is ready and you can already feel a bit of nervousness in all of the teams. About 79 men and 58 women will be on the start line tomorrow. Oberhof is presenting a nice winter landscape with a lot of snow. I am sure that we will see ten great days with a total of 16 interesting cross-country competitions.

“For tomorrow’s Prologue we expect the Tour favourites in the first part of the ranking. Kowalczyk (POL), Petra Majdic (SLO), Arianna Follis (ITA) and Kikkan Randall (USA) can be especially strong with short distances. On the men’s side I would say Alex Teichmann (GER), Bauer (CZE), Maxim Vyleghzanin (RUS), Lekov (RUS), and Dario Cologna (SUI) and some of the favorites.

Women’s start list is HERE.
Men’s start list is HERE.
For pictures from today click HERE.