November 24, 2015 – With no medals up for grabs in the 2015-16 FIS World Cup season, many athletes will be focusing on the pursuit of crystal globes. Despite there being no championships this year, the competition calendar still contains two Tour events. The 10th Edition of the Tour de Ski will begin with the new year on 1st January 2016 and the Ski Tour Canada will end the World Cup calendar 1-12 March 2016.

2014-15 Champ Martin Johnsrud Sundby © NordicFocus

It always tough to guess at who will be a contender, but with many of the World Cup’s biggest names starting at least once already this season, it’s offered a glimpse into who is race ready, who is still building, or taking the season off. With less than one week to go until the official start of the 2015-16 FIS World Cup season in Ruka, most of the World Cup favourites look ready to go.

During the Beitostolen, Norway competition weekend Therese Johaug and Martin Johnsrud Sundby both last season’s Tour de Ski and overall World Cup winner’s showed that they will be heavy favourites heading into this season. Petter Northug Jr, Astrid Jacobsen, Maiken Caspersen Falla, Eirik Brandsdal, Natalia Matveeva, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg, Robin Duvillard and Maurice Magnificat all showed that they were ready to contend in their respective events. Up and comers like Kari Oeyre Slind and Hans Christer Holund both of Norway let the World Cup regulars from their country know that they are ready to fight for podium positions.

Finland has hosted four FIS competitions already this season with Krista Parmakoski, Sami Jauhojarvi, Anne Kylloenen, the Niskanen siblings consistently battling for top spots on the podium. Charlotte Kalla (SWE) kicked off her competition season in dominant fashion recently winning 2 of 3 races in Bruksvallarna. Stina Nilsson was the only female to best Kalla in the sprint event showing that she will be a name to watch again this season in the sprint overall. Russian skiers Alexander Legkov, Maxim Vylegzhanin and Sergey Ustiugov started their season with victories in Saariselkae, Finland and Gaellivare, Sweden. Jessica Diggins of the US ski team won both tune up races in Gaellivare and looks to build on last year’s World Championship success.

Last season’s World Cup distance leader Dario Cologna was solid in Saariselkae but showed that he is still building into the season as Alex Harvey showed in Gaellivare.

On the ladies’ some big names will miss most if not all of the coming World Cup season due to pregnancy. Katja Visnar is due any day now with Marit Bjoergen to follow in December. Kikkan Randall has announced she is due in April followed by Aino-Kaisa Saarinen in May. Saarinen has raced this season and has expressed a desire to begin the World Cup season. Might we see Visnar or Bjoergen back by the end of the season?

Ruka Ski Stadium © NordicFocus

FIS Cross-Country World Cup Gets Underway in Ruka – Nov. 27-29

For the 14th time, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup and the Nordic Opening is going to take place in Ruka (FIN). This upcoming weekend, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup will begin in the gateway to Lapland with the three-stage World Cup – the Ruka Triple.

What is the Ruka Triple?
The Ruka Triple is a stage series of World Cup competitions. Three competitions will take place in three days. Starting on Friday, Ruka Triple gets underway with a classical sprint. The winner of the sprint gets 30 bonus seconds, which will be subtracted from the actual race time. Saturday’s programme features ladies’ 5 km free technique and men’s 10 km free technique interval start. The first World Cup and first stage of the season will be concluded with the pursuit in classic technique. Whoever crosses the finish line first is the winner of the Ruka Triple and gets a bonus of 200 points. Winner of the day gets 50 World Cup points.

The grand total of the prize money distributed equally between ladies and men is 240,000 CHF. The winner of the Ruka Triple will take home 33,500 CHF. An additional 5,000 CHF is waiting for the daily winner.

Competition Programme

Friday 27/11/2015
10:45 Sprint Classic Qualification
13:15 Sprint Classic Finals
17:00 Prize Giving ceremony in town Sprint L+M

Saturday 28/11/2015
11:15 10 km F Ladies
13:00 15 km F Men

Sunday 29/11/2015
11:15 Pursuit C Ladies
12:30 Pursuit C Men