January 10, 2014 – Despite warm weather across central Europe, Nove Mesto na Morave (CZE) is ready to welcome the world’s best sprinters this weekend. The Organizing Committee has prepared 2.5 km long loop, which has become a training and competition base for most of the Czech ski clubs. Last weekend, Nove Mesto successfully hosted the second stage of the FIS Slavic Cup, which had to be moved to Nove Mesto from Jablonec due to lack of snow.

Nova Mesto at night © FIS

“The World Cup competition course will be perfect and snowy white. The Organizers stored the artificial snow in deposits and the weather forecast says colder period is coming for the weekend,” Cestmir Skrbek, the sport manager of the Czech Ski Association said.

The competition course is between 8 and 10 meters wide and the layer is about 50 cm thick. “We transported the snow from the deposits on the track just before Christmas. The total length of the course is 2.5 km, more than we need for the sprint World Cup,” Vlastimil Jakes, the chief of the OC said.

Competition program

Saturday, 11^th January 2014
Qualification Sprint free ladies/men
– 2 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EST)
Quarterfinals Sprint free ladies/men
– 4:00 p.m. local time (7:00 a.m. EST)

Sunday, 12^th January 2014
11:40 CET – Finals Team sprint classic ladies/men
– 11:40 a.m. local time (2:40 a.m. EST)

(l-r) Haag, Herrmann and Diggins © Nordic Focus

Preview Women’s World Cup Nove Mesto Jan 11, 2014

Sprint freestyle:

– Denise Herrmann aiming to be first German overall sprint winner

– Denise Herrmann (GER) is currently leading the sprint WC-standings this season with 237 points, ahead of Norwegians Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (181) and Marit Bjørgen (177).

– Herrmann could be the first German skier to win the overall sprint World Cup. Only once before has a German skier finished on the overall sprint podium, when Manuela Henkel was third in 2000/2001-season.

– Herrmann has never won a World Cup race or a Tour stage. Her first ever WC-podium in the sprint freestyle was a third place in Davos on 15 Dec 2013. She was also top 3 in both sprint stages in Tour de Ski, and was third in the sprint classic stage in Kuusamo 29 Nov.

– The only sprint competition this season, World Cup and Tour stages, without Herrmann on the podium, was in Asiago on 21 Dec, when she was 5th in the classic sprint.

– If Denise Herrmann wins in Nove Mesto she will be the first German lady to win a World Cup sprint race since Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle won the sprint freestyle in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Dec 2001. Stehle’s win is the only win for Germany in sprint for ladies.

– Kikkan Randall (USA) won the overall sprint World Cup the last two seasons. Randall is currently 6th, on 137 points, exactly 100 points (one win) behind Herrmann.

– Randall did not participate in the Tour de Ski, and has not yet win a race this season. Last season she won four of the five races held in sprint freestyle (including Tour stages).

– Randall was second in her only sprint freestyle participation so far this season, in Davos on 15 Dec, behind Marit Bjørgen. Bjørgen will not compete in Nove Mesto.

– Randall has only been outside the final (top 6) in two of her 20 last starts in sprint freestyle (World Cup, championships and tour stages). World Championship in Oslo 2011 was one of these (only 26th).

– Randall has been on the podium in 16 of her last 20 sprint freestyle starts in World Cup, championships and tour stages, going back almost four years.

– The next World Cup win for Norway will be their win number 50 in sprint for ladies. Norwegians have won 49 of the 120 WC sprints held.

Preview Men’s World Cup Nove Mesto Jan 11, 2014

– Kriukov, Poltoranin or Pellegrino to break Scandinavian streak?

– All 17 seasons with a separate sprint World Cup have had an overall winner from Norway or Sweden. The last four seasons a Swede has won the sprint cup, with Emil Jönsson winning three of those.

– Ahead of this weekend’s race in Nove Mesto the top 3 in the sprint World Cup are all non-Scandinavians, with Nikita Kriukov (RUS) leading ahead of Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ) and Federico Pellegrino (ITA). Best Scandinavian athlete is Calle Halfvarsson (SWE) in 4th position.

– Neither Kriukov, Poltoranin and Pellegrino has won a sprint freestyle race.

-Kriukov’s best results are 3rd place in Rybinsk 2010 and Canmore 2012.

– Kriukov has reached the final in only three of his 25 starts in sprint freestyle.

– Poltoranin has all his best sprint results in classic style, he has never reached better than the quarterfinal in sprint freestyle.

-Pellegrino has finished in second place three times in sprint freestyle, two times in Tour de Ski stages, and once in World Cup in Liberec 15 Jan 2011. If Pellegrino wins he will be the first Italian man to win a sprint race since Renato Pasini won in Rybinsk 31 Jan 2009.

-Norway has finished with at least one male athlete on the overall sprint World Cup podium in all 17 seasons. At the moment the best Norwegian is Eirik Brandsdal in 6th place, though only 57 points behind the leader Kriukov.

– The last five wins by Norwegian men in sprint freestyle, in World Cup and Tour stages, have been won by five different athletes. Anders Gløersen, Petter Northug, Finn Hågen Krogh, Eirik Brandsdal and Ola Vigen Hattestad have one win each the last two years, going back to December 2011.

– Emil Jönsson (SWE) has seven World Cup wins in sprint freestyle, equally most with Tor Arne Hetland (NOR). If Jönsson wins here, he will be the male athlete with the most World Cup wins in sprint freestyle.

– Anders Gløersen (NOR) won the last World Cup race in sprint freestyle in Davos 15 Dec. Only Emil Jönsson has managed to win two consecutive WC-races in sprint freestyle the last five years. Jönsson did this twice (in 2010 and in 2012. The last Norwegian to win two in a row was Ola Vigen Hattestad in Dec 2008.