December 03, 2010 – The FIS Cross-Country World Cup presented by Viessmann began two weeks ago in Sweden’s Gällivare. The most important FIS series for developing young athletes, the FIS Continental Cup series, kicked off last weekend in the U.S.A. at the USSA Supertour.

The first races of the new Continental Cup season as part of the U.S. Super Tour were held on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 25th with a sprint. The leaders after the first three events, Holly Brooks and Lars Flora, earned World Cup starting places in period two in the Czech Republic, Estonia and Russia.

OPA Cup
The Continental Cup series within the Alpine countries (OPA Cup) will start in the middle of December. It will take place in Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Slovenia with the first competitions in Alta Badia, Italy. Italian and German athletes dominated last year’s edition and will be among the strongest contenders again. Dietmar Nöckler and Anouk Faivre Picon will be defending their overall victory. The series will again consist of seven events and will end in Ramsau on 10-13th March 2011.

Scandinavian Cup
The Scandinavian Cup has always been a strong platform for young and promising athletes from the Scandinavian countries. Last year’s ladies overall standing winner Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg absolutely dominated the Junior World Ski Championships in Hinterzarten winning two gold and two silver medals. Oestberg has qualified for the new Norwegian sprint team led by experienced coach Jon Arne Schjetne.

On the men’s side Kristian Tettli Rennemo led the Norwegian squad that occupied the first 6 places in the overall standings. Sjur Roethe, who impressed with a 7th place in the World Cup season opener in Gaellivare will defend the third place overall. The series is going to start the weekend before Christmas, on 17th-19th December in Norwegian Savalen. It will consist of five events in five countries, Norway, Sweden, Latvia, Estonia and Finland.

Slavic Cup
The Slavic Cup organized in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia cannot equal the starting fields of OPA or Scandinavian Cups; however, the organizers held several meetings in the summer/autumn and plan to encourage more skiers from the region to take part. Increased prize money and constant work on improving the races will help them. The Slavic Cup will kick off in Horni Misecky (CZE) on December 11th, a traditional training camp venue for the Czech national team thanks to stable and good snow conditions. The series will also make a stop in Nove Mesto which has organized many World Cups. The Slavic Cup will culminate in Slovakia in Kremnica-Skalka at the end of March, 2011.