August 11, 2011 – Nineteen World Cup venues are included in the 2011/2012 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 15 km and 30 km 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.

Longer FIS Tour de Ski
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 29th December 2011 to 8th January 2012 (for detailed information on FIS Tour de Ski see 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 (EST).

Sprint World Cup in Moscow, First World Cup in Poland
After a 1.5 week break due to the National Championships in many nations, World Cup racing will continue in Russia with Moscow 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 carried out. The FIS World Uphill Trophy is a unique race with about 3 km uphill and 3,5 km downhill on an alpine downhill slope and will not be a part of next season’s World Cup.

Season ends in Scandinavia
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.