February 02, 2013 (Germany) – The  race of today had to be cancelled due to bad weather. The skating races of the König-Ludwig-Lauf (GER) became victims of the warm temperatures, which arose in the Ammergau area during the last days, and the pouring rain. Even though the organisers tried everything to make the races possible – from putting in drainages to let the water flow off the race track over pumping the water out of the track to inserting salt in the track to stabilize the snow – the forces of nature were stronger.

The jury took a close look to the possibility to reschedule the FIS Marathon Cup race tomorrow, which would have meant a change to the classic technique. But in the end they had to decide that this option would not be possible. However, all elite athletes inscribed for the FIS MC of today are allowed to enter the classic technique race tomorrow if they wish.

Having had very difficult conditions already last year with temperatures around -20 degrees, the Koenig-Ludwig-Lauf team did not have much luck this year either. Although perfect winter wonderland conditions were still in place last weekend, the fön, the very warm wind of the Alps, erased much of the existing snow and only left water behind. Due to the high temperatures (up to 16 degrees on Wednesday) over the week, the soil also got defrozen which allowed the ground water to push from underneath the track. Even though snowfall set in during this morning, temperatures stayed around 0 degrees.

The next possibility for all FIS Marathon Cup racers to battle for precious points in the overall ranking will be La Transjurassienne (FRA) next weekend. The 76km long skating race (57km for the women) will be the longest FIS Marathon Cup of the season. For more information, please visit the Worldloppet home page HERE.

No changes in the overall FIS Marathon Cup
As there hasn’t been a race today, the Aukland brothers Joergen and Anders as well as Petter Northug (all NOR) are still all in front of the overall FIS Marathon Cup ranking, having all won one race and having placed third in another. Therefore all three have 160 points. Behind them, Martin Bajcicak (SVK) still follows with 139 points just in front of Stanislav Rezac (CZE) with 125 points.

On the women’s side, the ranking stays much clearer: Seraina Boner (SUI) leads with 240 points in front of Tatiana Manimaa (EST, 193 points) and Antonella Confortola (ITA, 147 points).

All results of the season & the actual overall FIS Marathon Cup standing HERE.

Important dates & Information: February 10: La Transjurassienne (FRA) – 6th FIS Marathon Cup 2012-13 / 76km (men) / 57km (women) FT