January 12, 2007 – The inaugural edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performace by Craft Sportwear is now history. 6 competitions in 8 days at 4 venues took place from December, 31st to January, 07th. Today, we would like to make a short review and say thank you! If you have any comments, please don’t hesitate to contact us at spitz@fisski.ch

About Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear:

The first Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear, which took place from December, 31st to January 07th in Munich, Oberstdorf (both GER), Asiago and Val di Fiemme (both ITA), was a success.

The basic idea of the Tour worked out. The goal to bring the different specialists together to compete in one and the same event was reached and with Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) and Tobias Angerer (GER) the first Tour de Ski had definitely the so-called Œallrounder‚ as a winner.

Of course, there are many details which should still refine and develop further. The main point is, however, that the athletes, the teams, organizers and the media – in fact all the different stakeholders- support the idea of the Tour de Ski. This provides a great foundation for the coming years.

From the Media site the feedback about the concept of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski was also very positive. A lot of articles were written, a lot of radio transmission were done and also the Tour got a big interest on TV. “The TV ratings were rising with the excitement of the Tour and at the end on Sunday we had more spectators in front of the TV Screens in several European countries than we had ever in the World Cup Cross-Country, ” says Jürg Capol FIS Race Director.

Steffen Lunkenheimer, Editor of the Bayrischer Rundfunk added: “The races of the Tour de Ski were amazing, this kind of competition series are exciting and it is for sure beside the World Championships a great highlight of the Cross-Country season.”

To develop such a competition series a lot of stakeholders are necessary. Today, the Tour Board would like to use the opportunity to thank the Official Tour Sponsors, Viessmann and Craft Sportswear, the five organizing committees in the three Tour de Ski countries: Munich and Oberstdorf in Germany, Asiago and Val di Fiemme in Italy, as well as Nove Mesto na Morave in the Czech Republic, the Media for their enormous reporting, our Web Editor Tiit Pekk, who supported our Media department in a fantastic way, our Tour Cartoon Designer Thomas Zipfel click here. for the current cartoons), the Jury Members, Tour Board members and all supporters for their good job as well as the whole national teams for their cooperation.

After the end of the first Tour de Ski everybody is talking about the second one. The Cross-Country Committee will undertake a detailed assessment over the course of the next months so that we are in the position to make decisions and confirm the calendar for the next Tour de Ski in our sprint meetings in Portoroz (SLO) in May.

Also the Tour Board will be a detailed analysis where the seek feedback from all the different parties, including the teams, sponsors, organizers and the media. The Organizers will made their feedback and improvement meeting after the season in spring in Val di Fiemme, which invited all Tour OC’s for this meeting. All this results will then provided as an information to the Cross-Country Committee to aid its decision-making process this spring. In general there should be not too much changes as the basic concept seems to work.

Results and Lists from the first Tour

Overall Result Ladies
1. Virpi Kuitunen, FIN
2. Marit Bjoergen, NOR + 1.17,5
3. Valentina Shevchenko, UKR + 1.20,8

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

Sprint ranking Ladies
1. Virpi Kuitunen, FIN 130 points
2. Marit Bjoergen, NOR 105 points
3. Aino Kaisa Saarinen, FIN 77 points

Sprint ranking Men
1. Tor Arne Hetland, NOR 73 points
2. Thobias Fredriksson, SWE 68 points
3. Simen Oestensen, NOR 59 points

Tour Prize money list Ladies (only Tour!)
1. Virpi Kuitunen, FIN 132,000 CHF
2. Marit Bjoergen, NOR 88,750 CHF
3. Valentina Shevchenko, UKR 42,500 CHF

Tour Prize money list Men (only Tour!)
1. Tobias Angerer, GER 116,500 CHF
2. Alexander Legkov, RUS 81,000 CHF
3. Simen Oestensen, NOR 39,375 CHF

Best of the comments after the last stage:

Tobias Angerer (GER), The Men’s Winner of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski: “I had a lot of respect for the Final Climb but it was not as difficult as I thought. I was very strong mentally and that was the key to success today. Being the first winner of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski means a lot to me; it is like winning the overall World Cup last year. I think the FIS Tour de Ski is the future of Cross-Country Skiing.”

Alexander Legkov (RUS), Second Place Ranked in the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski: “I did not expect to be second in the end, not even on the podium. This is a great event and I think the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski has a great future.”

Simen Oestensen (NOR), Third Place Ranked in the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski: “If someone told me beforehand that I will finish on the podium I would have told them they must be kidding.”

Tor Arne Hetland (NOR), Tour Sprint Ranking Winner: “Next year I would prefer to start on the top of that hill and ski down. The Tour de Ski is an excellent event and the timing of it at the turn of the year is perfect to promote our sport to larger audiences and it is a good commercial for our sport.”

Virpi Kuitunen (FIN), The Ladies’ Winner of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski: “I think that the Final Climb for us ladies is too steep. But as a winner, I obviously cannot say that I would not like the event. I value this victory very high and could not really say if it would be less or more important that the World Championships.”

Marit Bjoergen (NOR), Second Place Ranked in the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski: “In the end, the Tour de Ski has been good for me. I like the event. The Final Climb is maybe too hard, but overall I really like the Tour de Ski”

Website www.tour-de-ski.com:

The website www.tour-de-ski.com got a lot of hits in the last few months. We would like to inform you that also after the Tour de Ski you will find on this site a lot about the Cross-Country Sports and for sure about the development of the second Tour de Ski. So, come and see what is happened in the Cross-Country world: www.tour-de-ski.com

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

The Viessmann FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Rybinsk (RUS), which is situated in the region of Jaroslawl, 280km in the north-east from Moscau, will take place on January, 20th /21st. The Organizing Committee of Rybinsk gave today the “green light” for a distance and a sprint race in the Cross-Country area ŒDemino‚. Due to the lack of snow the FIS will change the competition program from the planed Pursuit races to Distance mass start races over 15 km free technique for ladies and 30 km free technique competition for men.

“We are happy that we could return after a World Cup break of 4 years to the traditional wintersport country Russia. For the first time World Cup competitions will be organized in Rybinsk, a town with 217.500 inhabitants. It was for sure not an easy decision of the Russian Ski Federation and local Organizing Committee, but the great efforts of them make it possible. We are looking forward to a nice World Cup weekend,” says the FIS Race Director Cross-Country, Jürg Capol.

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

Starting times:
Saturday, 20th January 2007
11:00 h / 9:00h (CET) 15km free technique Mass Start – Ladies
12:15 h / 10:15h (CET) 30 km free technique Mass Start – Men

Sunday, 21st January 2007
10:00 h / 08:00 h (CET) Qualification Sprint free technique – Ladies/Men
12:00 h / 10:00 h (CET) Finals Sprint free technique ˆ Ladies/Men

Current overall World Cup ranking:
Ladies:
1. Virpi Kuitunen, FIN 822 points
2. Marit Bjoergen, NOR 634 points
3. Petra Majdic, SLO 466 points

Men:
1. Tobias Angerer, GER 602 points
2. Alexander Legkov, RUS 467 points
3. Tor Arne Hetland, NOR 432 points

Prize Money List (total World Cup with Tour de Ski)
Ladies:
1. Virpi Kuitunen, FIN 195.500 CHF
2. Marit Bjoergen, NOR 140.750 CHF
3. Katerina Neumannova, CZE 50.000 CHF

Men:
Tobias Angerer, GER 140.750 CHF
Alexander Legkov, RUS 97.000 CHF
Eldar Roenning, NOR 57.500 CHF

Nations Cup ranking:
1. Norway 4774 points
2. Germany 2859 points
3. Finland 2429 points

Important dates:

January 20-21, 2007 – Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Rybinsk (RUS)

January 27-18, 2007 – Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Otepää (EST)

January 29- February 4, 2007 – FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Tarvisio (ITA)

February 3-4, 2007 – Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Davos (SUI)

February 22- March 4, 2007 – FIS Nordic World Ski Champhionships in Sapporo (JPN)