September 05, 2011 – The Ski Classics are the long distance championships across Europe which had a fantastic first season in 2011. The 2012 Ski Classics will include seven long distance ski races and new for 2012 is the Estonian race, Tartu Maraton. The Tartu Maraton classic technique event will start in Otepää and finish 63km later in Elva. The race has a more than 50 years strong tradition and during the 80s was the biggest ski race in the former Soviet Union.

“The calendar for Ski Classics 2012 looks very exciting, now when also Tartu Maraton has joined Ski Classics the long distance ski concept feels complete. Tartu Maraton is held 2 weeks after König Ludwig Lauf and 2 weeks before Vasaloppet filling up a previous gap in the Ski Classics calendar,” said David Nilsson, Executive Director, Ski Classics. “Tartu Maraton is one of the world’s best classic ski races, and brings together the best long distance skiers every year.”

“Björn Daehlie, multiple Olympic gold medalist as well as Anders Aukland, double Tartu Maraton winner, have both given a high value to the course of Tartu Marathon mentioning it as one of the best cross-country ski courses in the world due to its variable scenery,” added Indrek Kelk, general director of Tartu Maraton.

“Being a part of Ski Classics gives us the possibility to prove to millions of TV-viewers that these two ski-kings have told the truth. We hope that after seeing the beauty of the course and the high organization level of the race through the TV-broadcast, thousands of new skiers around the Europe would like to participate the Tartu Marathon in the future years,” he continued.

More Ski Classics news will be presented during the fall in the build up for the 2012 season starting on January 8th in the Czech Republic.

Ski Classics 2012 Schedule
– Event 1 – January 8, 2012 – Jizerska Padesatka –  Czech Republic
– Event 2 – January, 29, 2012 – Marcialonga – Italy
– Event 3 – February 5, 2012 – König Ludwig Lauf – Germany
– Event 4 – February 19, 2012 – Tartu Maraton – Estonia
– Event 5 – March 4, 2012 – Vasaloppet – Sweden
– Event 6 – March 17, 2012 – Birkebeinerrennet – Norway
– Event 7 – March 31, 2012 – Ski Classics Final – Norefjell – Norway

More info HERE.