March 15, 2011 (Stockholm, Sweden) – This is it – the last sprint race of the season – a city sprint around the royal palace in downtown Stockholm. All that racing, all season long and still the World Cup sprint title for the women has still not been decided.

The classic sprint course winds its way around the palace and finishes on a long straight uphill after a sharp corner. This, combined with the old corn snow that has to be trucked in over the course, means that the skiers will have difficulty just double poling their way around the course. They will have to choose whether to wax or not, which only adds to the fun.

Look for a mix of diagonal striders and double polers in the final of the men’s race. For the women, so far there has not been anyone who has tried successfully to double pole any of the courses this year.

There are any number of women, including American Kikkan Randall, who have a chance to win the overall World Cup title. Randall was in the red leader’s jersey in the sprints in Lahti, Finland this past weekend, but a poor quarterfinal saw her drop  down into 3rd place overall with 401 pts. She’s 29 pts behind the leader Petra Majdic from Slovenia who has to be the favourite to win the title.

Majdic is the best female classic sprinter in the world so this final format definitely favours her. Arianna Follis of Italy is in 2nd, just 7 pts behind Majdic so she clearly has a chance to win. There is a lot of luck in sprinting, especially in city courses, so nothing is certain yet. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) sits in 4th place only 63 pts behind the leader and could easily win and possibly take the overall title. This is going to be a fun race to watch.

When we spoke to Randall after the Lahti WCup and she was keen to get another crack at it in Stockholm. “It felt good wearing it [the WCup Sprinter’s Red Leader’s jersey] and I’m looking forward to having the chance to take it back,” said Randall, who sits 10th in the overall WCup standings.

We caught up with her in Stockholm for a final take on the conditions there and her status…

“The conditions here in Stockholm are the best I’ve ever seen.  The track looks to be setting up well and during our testing this afternoon, the course was fast and firm,” Randall told SkiTrax by email.

“Last world cup sprint of the season.  I got a glimpse of what I can do in a classic sprint last weekend and I want to lay down another good performance here.  It’s been really fun to be in the mix for the red leader’s jersey.  Anything can happen tomorrow and I’m looking forward to challenging the leaders.”

Canada’s Chandra Crawford, Dasha Gaiazova and Len Valjas have all returned to Canada to race at the XC Ski Nationals in Canmore so there will be no Canadian ladies racing in Stockholm or Falun.

CORRECTION – Perianne Jones is on the start line for Canada and Holly Brooks is the USA’s second starter with Randall. Both earned their World Cup berths via the Conti Cup selection process.

On the men’s side, Emil Joensson of Sweden has an insurmountable lead with 530 pts compared to second place of Ole Viggen Hattestad of Norway with 364 pts. Joensson has proven throughout the year that he is the fastest man in the world – except in the big races.

He was not able to win in Oslo at the 2011 World Championships (nor in Vancouver in 2010) even though he was the heavy favourite. He’s the favourite again in Stockholm [he says it’s his favourite course] but Hattestad or countrymen Erik Bransdall or John Kristian Dahl are great double polers and could beat him. Oh, and don’t forget Petter Northug, he’s a pretty good sprinter, too.

Canada’s Alex Harvey sits in 10th place in the Sprint standings [and 10th in the WCup overall] and is looking to try to get on the podium. After a 2nd place in the sprint in Drammen, Norway and a gold medal in the Team Sprint at the Oslo World championships he has a very good chance of doing so. His partner in that gold medal race, Devon Kershaw is in 19th place in the sprint standings and after a dismal weekend in Lahti he’s surely looking for redemption in Sweden.

American Andy Newell is in 11th place in the sprint standings. He has not done anything outstanding so far this year but he has been consistently finishing in the top 12. This is his last chance to step on the podium this season.

Kris Freeman is also on the start line for the USA as is Lars Flora, earning his WCup spot at the top Conti Cup skier. Graham Nishikawa is Canada’s Conti Cup entry in Stockholm.

After racing on the streets of Stockholm the racers move a couple of hours north to Falun for the final weekend of the season. There they will race a mini-tour with a prologue on Friday and pursuit races on Saturday and Sunday to end the season.

Stay tuned for more coverage from SkiTrax.com