December 27, 2018 – The 13th edition of the Tour de Ski will take place from Dec. 29 to Jan. 6 starting in Toblach (ITA), then transfering to Switzerland’s Val Müstair, next to Oberstdorf in Germany and ends at Val die Fiemme (ITA).

Tour de Ski © FIS

The overall winner of the Tour de Ski earns 400 World Cup points and if an athlete wins the overall Tour de Ski and all of the Tour stages the total is 750 points. For all additional information (eg. quota, prize money) please have a look on the Rules of the FIS Cross-Country Tour de Ski 2018-19 from page 34 in the document “World Cup, Stage WC, TdS, Final Rules Cross-Country”.

13th Annual Tour de Ski
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Stage 1 – Toblach – Sprint Free
For the individual Sprint qualification round the seeded group (established according to the current World Cup standing) starts first and the starting order within the group is drawn. Following the seeded group all other competitors will be assigned start positions according to their FIS Sprint points.

Stage 2 – Toblach – 10/15 km Free
The seeded group is defined as the 15 best athletes according to the current overall FIS Tour de Ski standing after 1 stage. The starting order will be according to the FIS World Cup rules article 5.4.

Stage 3 – Val Müstair – Sprint Free
For the individual Sprint qualification round the seeded group (established according to the current overall FIS Tour de Ski standing after 2 stages) starts first and the starting order within the group is drawn. Following the seeded group all other competitors will be assigned start positions according to their FIS sprint points.

Stage 4 – Oberstdorf – 10/15 km Mass Start Classic
The starting number will be assigned according to the overall FIS Tour de Ski standing after 3 stages.

Stage 5 – Oberstdorf – 10/15 km Pursuit Free
Athletes will start with the starting numbers and time differences according to the current FIS Tour de Ski standings after 4 stages.
To prevent too large start time differences, the Jury can decide upon the use of the “wave start”.

Stage 6 – Val di Fiemme – 10/15 km Mass Start Classic
The starting number will be assigned according to the overall FIS Tour de Ski standing after 5 stages.

Stage 7 – Val di Fiemme – 9km Pursuit Free (final climb up Alpe Cermis)
The starting bibs will be according to the current FIS Tour de Ski standings after 6 stages. To prevent too large start time differences, the Jury can decide upon the use of the “wave start”.

Pre Competition Facts

Overall Women

” Therese Johaug will not participate in this year’s Tour de Ski. She has won all five individual distance events of this World Cup season.

” Next to Johaug, Charlotte Kalla (3), Ebba Andersson (3), Ingvild Flugstad ÿstberg (3) and Krista P‰rm‰koski (1) were the only athletes to finish on the podium of a ladies’ distance World Cup event this season. Kalla and Andersson will also not participate in this year’s Tour de Ski.
” Heidi Weng has won the ladies’ Tour de Ski title in each of the last two seasons. The only athlete to win the ladies’ Tour de Ski title in three consecutive seasons is Justyna Kowalczyk, who won four times in a row from 2010 to 2013.

” Norwegian athletes have won the ladies’ Tour de Ski in each of the previous five seasons: Therese Johaug (2013/14, 2015/16), Marit Bj¯rgen (2014/15) and Weng (2016/17, 2017/18).

” Johaug has claimed six overall podium finishes in the Tour de Ski, more than any other athlete. Weng follows on five, while no other active athlete has more than two.

” Ingvild Flugstad ÿstberg finished in second place in the overall standings in both 2015/16 and 2017/18. No athlete has finished on the podium at least three times without ever winning the title.

” Norway have recorded 18 overall top-three finishes in the ladies’ Tour de Ski, at least 13 more than any other country (Finland 5).

” Nine of the previous 12 winners of the ladies’ Tour de Ski title went on to win the overall World Cup title in the same season.

” ÿstberg is the only athlete to have recorded at least one top-three stage finish in each of the last six editions of the Tour de Ski.

” Norway is the only country to have recorded at least one top-three stage finish in all previous 12 editions of the Tour de Ski.

” Stefanie Bˆhler is the only athlete to have appeared in all previous 12 editions of the Tour de Ski. Bˆhler’s best result came last season, when she finished in 10th place in the overall standings.

Overall Men

” Last season, Dario Cologna claimed his fourth men’s Tour de Ski title, after 2008/09, 2010/11 and 2011/12. No other athlete has won more than two men’s overall Tour de Ski titles.

” Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Luk·
a Bauer are the only other athletes with multiple victories (2 each). Petter Northug, Alexander Legkov, Sergey Ustiugov and Tobias Angerer all won on one occasion.

” Men’s and ladies’ Tour de Ski overall victories combined, Cologna is tied on a joint-record four victories alongside Justyna Kowalczyk.

” Eight of the 12 winners of the Tour de Ski went on to win the overall World Cup that.

” Only Bauer in 2010, Legkov in 2013, Ustiugov in 2017 and Cologna in 2018 failed to add the overall World Cup title to their Tour de Ski victory. All four finished in second place in the overall World Cup standings that season.

” Cologna has claimed a total of seven overall podium finishes in the Tour de Ski, more than any other athlete. Petter Northug (6) and Martin Johnsrud Sundby (4) follow in second and third place all-time.

” Sundby is the only athlete to finish on the podium of the men’s Tour de Ski in each of the last three seasons. He won in 2015/16 and finished second in 2016/17 and 2017/18.

” In total, Norwegian athletes have claimed 13 podium finishes in the men’s Tour de Ski, at least six more than any other country. Switzerland (7) and Russia (6) follow.

” Switzerland (4), Norway (3), Russia (2) and Czech Republic (2) are the countries to have claimed multiple men’s Tour de Ski titles.

” Last season, the six stages of the Tour de Ski were won by five different athletes, with only overall winner Cologna (2) claiming multiple stage victories.

” In total, only Petter Northug (13) has won more stages in the Tour de Ski than Sundby and Dario Cologna (both 7).

” Northug (31), Cologna (24) and Sundby (18) are the only athletes to have claimed more than 10 podium finishes in Tour de Ski stages.

” Norway and Russia are the only countries to have recorded at least one top-three stage finish in all previous 12 editions of the Tour de Ski.

” Bolshunov is leading the men’s overall World Cup standings coming into the Tour de Ski. Both Bolshunov (will be 22 on 31 December) and KlÊbo (22) could become the youngest winner of the men’s Tour de Ski. Dario Cologna was 22 years and 299 days when he won in 2009.

” Alex Harvey, who finished in third place in last season’s Tour de Ski, could become the first ever non-European winner the Tour de Ski.

” Jean Marc Gaillard is one of two athletes to have appeared in all previous 12 editions of the Tour de Ski, alongside Devon Kershaw