January 01, 2015 – The 9th edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear gets underway in two days. After a week of cold weather and snowfall, the FIS Tour de Ski venues are ready for the first season highlight.

Seven competitions in nine days are scheduled for the ninth edition of the FIS Tour de Ski. The Tour will get underway on 3rd January 2015 in Oberstdorf (GER) with the traditional prologue.

It is the first time that the German town has hosted the opening and as a second stage there, a classical technique pursuit will take place. After Oberstdorf, the Tour returns to the home of Dario Cologna in Val Müstair (SUI) for a sprint in free technique.

TdS 2015 map © FIS XC

Changes in Toblach
Following the stop in Switzerland, the Tour will move onto Toblach (ITA) on the 7th and 8th January with distance competitions. Unfortunately, due to a lack of natural snow the men’s point-to-point competition from Cortina to Tobalch had to be rescheduled to Toblach. The alternative race program for the 8th of January will be Pursuit 25km (5 for the men).

The FIS Tour de Ski will conclude in Val di Fiemme (ITA) with a mass start competition on 10th and the traditional Final Climb up Alpe Cermis on 11th January.

Oberstdorf, GER
Only one week ago there was almost no snow in the Allg‰u region. However, the weather gods smiled on the first-ever FIS Tour de Ski opener in Oberstdorf.

Almost 50 cm of natural snow has arrived in Oberstdorf and more is expected to come. On top of that, the Local Organizing Committee left nothing to chance and brought 1.500m≥ of snow from surrounding areas and could produce additionally 800m≥ with Finnish snow making technology. Organizers will prepare a well-known 2,5 km course, which was used also in 2012 when the FIS Tour de Ski was in Oberstdorf the last time.

Race action © FIS XC

Stage 1 – 3km Ladies/4km Men F Prologue (Jan. 3rd 10:45 Ladies & 12:45 Men CET)

Traditional individual start competition; the 30 best athletes according to the current overall World Cup rankings registered to compete will start in reverse order as the last group. The overall World Cup leader will start last. Athletes with the highest distance FIS points will start between all the seeded athletes. The athlete with the highest distance FIS points will be set as first of those athletes.
Remarks: Bonus seconds for top 3 – winner 15’’, 2nd place 10’’, 3rd place 5’’

Stage 2 – 10/15km C Pursuit (Jan. 4th 11:00 Ladies & 12:15 Men CET)

For the individual sprint qualification round, the top 30 after 1st stage start first and the starting order within this group will be decided by a draw. Start positions for all other competitors will be assigned according to the FIS Tour de Ski ranking after the 1st stages (the last athlete of the current FIS Tour de Ski standing will start as last).
Remarks: Bonus seconds for top 30 athletes. Winner gets 30 sec, 2nd place 27 sec, 3rd place 24 sec.

Val Mustair, SUI
The home town of the Cologna brothers will host a sprint free in the FIS Tour de Ski 2015 and the Organizers are reporting great snow conditions. In addition to the man-made snow for the competition course, natural snow has covered the valley in white. The competition course will be finished on Saturday and will open for the. Only 20 minutes away from Tschierv, there is a 7 km lap prepared both for skating and classic.

Stage 3 – Ladies/Men Sprint C (Jan. 6th Finals begin a 13:15 CET)

For the individual sprint qualification round the top 30 after two stages start first and the starting order within this group will be decided by a draw. Start positions for all other competitors will be assigned according to the FIS Tour de Ski ranking after two stages (the last athlete of the current FIS Tour de Ski standing will start as last).
Remarks: Bonus seconds for top 30 athletes. Winner gets 30 sec, 2nd place 27 sec, 3rd place 24 sec.

Nordic arena in Toblach © FIS XC

Toblach, ITA
The Nordic arena in Dobbiaco/Toblach is also reporting good snow conditions. Unfortunately, Toblach has not received any natural snow and competition course has been prepared only with 30.000 m3 of man-made snow. The lack of natural snow forced the famous Cortina-Toblach point-to-point competition to be replaced with competitions in Toblach. The 5.0 km competition course was finished on 30th December.

Stage 4 – 5/10 km C – Interval start (Jan. 7th 13:00 Men & 15:30 Ladies CET)
The overall FIS Tour de Ski leader after three stages will get the first start position on the grid and bib number 1. Other competitors are assigned next start positions and bib numbers in order of their current FIS Tour de Ski standing after three stages.
Remarks: Bonus seconds sprints – 1 for ladies and 2 for men on the course + 1 in the finish. Bonus seconds for top 3 – winner 15’’, 2nd place 10’’, 3rd place 5’’

Stage 5 – 15/25 km F Pursuit (Jan. 8th 12:15 Men & 15:30 Ladies CET)
The starting order will be decided according to the current FIS Tour de Ski standings after four stages using the time differences between respective athletes as the start interval. If there are too big time differences in the back of the start field, the Jury can decide upon the use of the “wave start”.
Remarks: Bonus seconds for top 3 in the finish – winner 15’’, 2nd place 10’’, 3rd place 5’’

Val di Fiemme, ITA
Val di Fiemme, the traditional host of the final Tour de Ski stages, has also had to deal with lack of natural snow. However, the LOC has produced sufficient amount of snow to prepare the competition courses. In Lago di Tesero a 2.5 km lap will be used for Saturday s competitions. The Final Climb on Alpe Cermis is already covered with snow as well the Marcialonga course that is connecting the Cross-Country stadium and the bottom of the monster hill.

Stage 6 – 10/15 km C Mass start (Jan. 10th 13:00 Men & 15:45 Ladies CET)
The 30 best athletes according to the current overall FIS Tour de Ski standing after five stages will start in reverse order as the last group. Last 30 athletes according to the current TDS overall standing will start between all the seeded athletes. The athlete ranked last in the current overall TDS standing will be set as first of those athletes.
Remarks: 1 intermediate bonus point for ladies, 2 for the men. Bonus seconds for top 3 – winner 15’’, 2nd place 10’’, 3rd place 5’’

Stage 7 – 9 km Pursuit Alpe Cermis (Jan. 11th 12:00 Men & 13:30 Ladies CET)
The starting bibs will be assigned according to the current FIS Tour de Ski standings after 6 stages using the time differences between respective athletes as the start interval. To prevent too big start time differences, the Jury can decide upon the use of the “wave start”.
Remarks: No bonus seconds on the final stage of the FIS Tour de Ski