CROSS-COUNTRY SKI. The unusually warm autumn has forced the Norwegian Ski Federation to move the Cross-Country World Cup kick off from Beitostoelen to Sjusjoen which is situated about 20 km north-east of Lillehammer on a high plateau.

Sjusjoen (NOR). Photo: www.sjusjoen.com

Sjusjoen has successfully carried out a couple FIS Nordic Combined World Cups together with Lillehammer and provides good training conditions for international Cross-Country athletes with their wide range of Cross-Country tracks.

“It was not an easy decision, “said Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country. “Compared to Beitostoelen, the weather is a bit colder in Sjusjoen and they will be able to produce snow during the next few nights. The preparations will be a bit easier and less snow is needed as the base is paved. We highly appreciate the huge efforts put in by the OC of the World Cup weekend in Sjusoen and the team led by Erik Oestli in Beitostoelen as well as the Norwegian Ski Federation to find a good solution to carry out the World Cup Opening in Norway despite the mild weather.“

"We are ready to tackle the challenge of organizing the World Cup Cross-Country competition in just a few days," said Terje Lund, head of the Organizing Committee. "It will be the first Cross-Country World Cup event in Sjusjoen but with support and spirit from many of us - the members of the OC, the venue management of Sjusjoen, the team of Beitostoelen, the Cross-Country Sports Family in Norway, the athletes, coaches and industry partners, TV and Media, as well as the Federation - we will be able to host the World Cup opening in Norway from 19th to 20th November. Cold weather and 10 snow canons will help us to produce the snow for a course of 3, 75 km in the next few days.

In addition Lund expressed: "We highly value the effort put together by the experienced OC in Beitostoelen. In the past days they tried their best to find a suitable solution but at the end we had to come to the conclusion that a World Cup event in Beitostoelen is not possible this year."

The World Cup program stays the same with an interval start on Saturday and the relay competition on Sunday. The starting times remain the same as well.

FIScrosscountry.com
Thursday 10 November 2011

Starting Times (local time):

Saturday, 19th November

Distance free technique 10 km ladies 11.30h
Distance free technique 15 km men 13.15h

Sunday, 20st November

Relay 4 x 5 km ladies 11.30h
Relay 4 x 10 km men 13.15h

Ruka Triple for the second time on schedule

After the World Cup kick-off in Sjusjen the Cross-Country family will meet in Kuusamo to tackle the challenge of the 2nd edition of Ruka Triple.

Ruka Triple is a three-day multi-stage event which will take place from 25th – 27th November. The schedule for this event includes a classic sprint on Friday, an interval start competition over 5 km (ladies) and 10 km (men) in free technique on Saturday, and a handicap start over 10km (ladies) and 15 km (men) in classical technique. The rules follow the model of the Tour de Ski and the athletes may only enter for the entire series.

The OC Kuusamo has worked hard in the past months to provide great conditions for the athletes. For example, a new bridge was installed and better flight connections from Helsinki to Kuusamo were organized. And now everyone in the OC is pulling together for the final preparations.

“We currently have about 1.5 km of track,“ explained Seppo Linjakumpu, General Secretary of the OC in Kuusamo who is looking optimistically forward to the event. “We also have 2000 m2 of “old snow” in a snow storage, with which we can cover about 1km of track. In addition, colder weather is expected which would be ideal to produce more snow for the event. In the worst case our Alpine resort stands ready to support us.“

The date for the snow control when the final decision for the Nordic Opening will be taken is 16th November.

More information: www.nordicopening.com

FIScrosscountry.com
Thursday 10 November 2011

Starting Times
Friday, 25th November

Women/Men:

Sprint Qualification 10:45h (9:45h CET)

Final C 12:30h (11:30 CET)

Saturday, 26th November

Women: 5km F, Individual start, 12:00h (11:00h CET)

Men: 10 km F, Individual start 13:30h (12:30h CET)

Sunday, 27th November

Women: 10km C, Handicap start, 12:00h (11:00h CET)

Men: 15 km C, Handicap start 13:00h (12:00h CET)

Top three in November 2010
Ruka Triple

  Ladies     Men  
1. Marit Bjoergen NOR 1. Alexander Legkov RUS
2. Justyna Kowalczyk POL 2. Dario Cologna SUI
3. Charlotte Kalla SWE 3. Daniel Rickardsson SWE