. world ski news : Tour de Ski - 5 days to go - 24 Äåêåìâðè 2011 - 12:30
CROSS COUNTRY SKI. The sixth edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear will kick off in just five days, on 29th December 2011. For the first time, the event will be carried out over 11 days, with nine races at four venues in two countries and this time it will be the true season highlight since there are no title events on the program.
The kick-off will be in Oberhof (GER) on 29th-30th December with the prologue in free technique and a handicap start race (that means that the athletes start with the time differences from the prologue) over 10 km (ladies) and 15 km (men) in classical technique. The Tour will then continue already on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day with a classical sprint and a short pursuit race (ladies 5km + 5 km, men 10km + 10km) in Oberstdorf (GER), the 2005 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships venue.
After four intensive competition days the athletes will have deserved their first rest day on 2th January and most of them will travel from Oberstdorf to Italy. In Toblach, the racers will take on three races in a row for the first time. On Tuesday, 3rd January, they will race a short interval start race over 3km (ladies) and 5 km (men). A free technique sprints follows on 4th January before the racers tackle the challenge of the special A-to-B stage from Cortina d’Ampezzo to Toblach for the third time. The male athletes will be racing in a free technique handicap start over 35 km. Based on the experiences from last years, the ladies will start in the stadium of Toblach and make three 5 km loops. After the second rest day, the Tour will conclude in the Valley of ‘Fiemme’, the host of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013. 7th January 2011 will see a mass start race over 10 km (ladies) and 20 km (men) in classical technique. The final stage on 8th January, the already famous ‘Final Climb,’ will again start in the Cross-Country Stadium at the Lago di Tesero and end on Alpe Cermis, with the final climb stretching over 3.7 km and an altitude climb of 425m. Both genders will race the same course, 9 km in free technique.
The snow conditions are promising everywhere. All venues have received snowfall in the past days or were able to produce snow. The sixth edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear can start: We are ready - do join us on the Tour 2011/2012!
FIScrosscountry.com
Thursday 24 December 2011
Tour de Ski rankings 2010/2011
Overall Results ladies
1. Justyna Kowalczyk, POL
2. Therese Johaug, NOR
3. Marianna Longa, ITA (retired)
Overall Results men
1. Dario Cologna, SUI
2. Petter Northug, NOR
3. Lukas Bauer (CZE)