December 02, 2011 (Dusseldorf, Germany) – The FIS XC World Cup circus moves from Scandinavia to Europe this weekend, Dec. 3-4, with a stop in Dusseldorf, Germany, celebrating its 10th anniversary of staging fast-pacing sprinter racing along the temperate banks of the Rhine River. While Scandinavian World Cup organizers had to scramble over the last few weeks in order to cope with a lack of snow, it has been business as usual for the  Dusseldorf Organizing Committee (OC), who are used to preparing a World cup race course in a most unlikely place: on the streets of downtown Dusseldorf. Ironically, Dusseldorf has become one of the World Cup circuit’s most reliable venues for snow, thanks to a fine-tuned system for making, transporting and grooming the snow.

The Dusseldorf World Cup is a showcase for the sprint specialists of the sport, featuring individual skate sprints on Saturday and team sprints on Sunday. The races unfold on a narrow and twisty course that winds its way through downtown streets and along the banks of the Rhine River for just under a kilometre. Given the nature of the course, Dusseldorf is very much the ski-cross or roller-derby event of the World Cup circuit, with most races featuring lots of contact and a crash or two. Victory does not necessarily go to the fastest, but to the skier with the best tactics and who knows how to stay on their feet in traffic and avoid the almost inevitable crashes.

The races will unfold on a white ribbon of snow roughly 800 meters long and 30cms thick that snakes through the downtown core and along the river bank. The 4,000 cubic metres of snow needed to make the course comes courtesy of the Jever Skihalle Neuss, a local indoor ski facility that uses the equivalent of a 50 metre swimming pool’s worth of water to make the necessary snow for the race. The snow is then trucked to the race course and groomed within hours of the start of the races. In spite of the forecast highs of 10C over the weekend, organizers are extremely confident that the course will stand up to the elements.

Most of the sport’s top sprinters will be in town, and we should see some new faces on the podium for the first time at this World Cup season, especially on the women’s side, with top all-rounders like Marit Bjoergen, Charlotte Kalla, and Petter Northug foregoing the event in favour of altitude training in preparation for Davos and the Tour de Ski. There will be no repeat for last year’s victors, Emil Joenssen of Sweden and Italy’s Arianne Follis. Joenssen is still coming back from a thigh injury and Follis has retired.

The North American women fared well at this event last year and are returning in force. The USA’s Kikkan Randall has to be one of the favourites, not least because she finished 2nd here last year and loves skate sprints. Randall also finished 4th last weekend in the Kuusamo sprint behind Bjoergen, Kalla and Skofterud, all of whom will skip this event. Coupled with the retirement of perennial sprint favourites Follis and Majdic, the door is wide open for some new faces to step onto the podium this year as well, including Canada’s Chandra Crawford, who qualified fourth and finished 8th here last year. “This is my kind of sprint course – fast, tight and gnarly the way I like it,” Crawford told SkiTrax at this event last year.

Crawford’s teammate Dasha Gaiazova will also return. She qualified here last year and joined up with Crawford to finish 3rd in the team sprint. Joining the Canadian duo will be Perianne Jones, who qualified in her last appearance here in 2009, and “convergence” athlete Alysson Marshall, who is a strong sprinter as well.  Randall will be joined by USST teammates Sadie Bjornsen, Holly Brooks and Ida Sargent. While none of the three are expected to contend for a podium position, look for more personal bests from the US women, who are on a tear right now.

Dusseldorf was less kind to the North American men last year, with the sole qualifier, Andy Newell, getting knocked out of the quarters. Neither country managed to qualify for the team sprint final either. Canada’s Len Valjas has since established himself as the real deal, however, and should be considered a podium threat after his 5th place in last weekend’s sprint in Kuusamo. Devon Kershaw is making a brief appearance in Saturday’s race as well, in order to work on his sprint qualification speed prior to the Tour de Ski. Kershaw can’t be discounted, despite the sluggish start to his season, having won a freestyle sprint stage in last year’s Tour de Ski in Toblach. Valjas and Kershaw will be joined by veteran teammate  Drew Goldsack, who teamed up with Kershaw to finish 6th in the team sprint at the 2007 World Championships. Together Valjas and Goldsack could pack a potent 1-2 punch in the team sprint on Sunday.

The US will be sending the trio of Andy Newell, Simi Hamilton and newcomer Skylar Davis. Newell will be looking to kick start his season after a series of so-so races thus far, and Hamilton will be trying to make the best of his overseas trip this weekend, after missing most of the early season races due to illness.

Turning to the Scandinavian and European teams for Dusseldorf, Teodor Peterson, winner of the sprint event in Kuusamo last weekend, will have to fill Joenssen’s shoes for Team Sweden, along with Jesper Modin, who also made the final in Dusseldorf last year. Robyn Bryntesson, Calle Hallfvarsson and a few youngsters will be joining them.

The Norwegian “Sprintgutta” will be there of course, including Oeystein Pettersen, who placed third here last year. Northug’s younger brother Thomas will race too, giving him an opportunity to escape from under the shadow of Northug the elder.

The Italians should also be there in force, including last year’s runner-up, Fulvio Scola, and teammates Renato Pasini, Federico Pellegrino, and David Hofer. And the Russian’s should be well represented by the likes of Alexei Petukhov, who was also a finalist here last year, and Nikita Kriukov. Among the dark horses, watch for Finland’s Antssi Pentsinen, who won the sprint qualifier in Kuusamo last weekend.

Norway’s deep women’s team will field Maiken Falla and youngster Heidi Weng, among others, while Sweden will counter with Hanna Brodin and Hanna Falk, both finalists from last year. Watch out for Finland’s Anne Kylloenen and Russia’s Natalia Matveeva, 5th and 6th last weekend in Kuusamo. Matveeva, who recently returned from a doping suspension, placed second in Dusseldorf back in 2008 and won the team sprint with Natalia Korosteleva. Slovenia’s Vesna Fabjan, who won the qualifier here last year and ended up third, could be a threat as well. Hoping to fill the shoes of retired sprint aces Follis and Magda Genuin is a crop of young Italian women, including a nineteen year old Greta Laurent.

See the Women’s Start List for Saturday HERE.

See the Men’s Start List for Saturday HERE.

View a video about the Dusseldorf race course HERE.