June 07, 2011 – The FIS Cross-Country World Cup calendar for the upcoming season 2011/12 was finalized during the FIS Calendar Conference in Portoroz from June 1-5 , and confirmed by the FIS Council at its meeting in Ljubljana on June 6.

A total of 19 World Cup venues are included in the season which will kick off in Beitostoelen, Norway on November 19. The FIS Cross-Country family will then move to Kuusamo for the three-stage competition, held at the Nordic Opening with the other Nordic Disciplines in the north of Finland. Düsseldorf stages another sprint weekend before the teams travel to Davos where – after a break of 11 years – the famous 15km and 30km interval start races will take place. Just before Christmas, the last World Cup of the first period will take place in Rogla, Slovenia which features on the World Cup calendar for the second time after 2009.

The 6th edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear will stage the kick off of the second World Cup period from December 29, 2011 to January 8, 2012 – for detailed information on FIS Tour de Ski click  HERE.

Milano returns to the World Cup calendar in January after having held a sprint first in 1998, and will be followed by the traditional Cross-Country events in Otepää, Estonia.

After a 1.5 week break due to the National Championships in many nations, World Cup racing will continue in Russia with Moscow (providing they present detailed plans by June 30 – otherwise the competition will take place in Rybinsk) and Rybinsk. Nove Mesto na Morave will return to the World Cup calendar in middle of February after which Szklarska Poreba in Poland will make its World Cup debut. The World Cup races there will be held on Friday and Saturday – on Sunday, the FIS World Uphill Trophy will be held. The FIS World Uphill Trophy is a unique race with about 3km uphill and 3,5km downhill on an alpine downhill slope and will not be a part of next season’s World Cup.

Traditionally, the season will conclude in Scandinavia with competitions in Lahti, Drammen, Oslo and the World Cup Final in Sweden with Stockholm and Falun.

Please click HERE to see the entire World Cup 2011/12 calendar with the respective race formats.

The long-term calendar plan 2011-2015 is available HERE.