The Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country will start the season for the 6th time in Düsseldorf (GER), the metropolis at the river Rhine. On 27th and 28th October 2007, about 150 of the best athletes from 21 nations are competing for the first points of the new season. Among the participants will be both overall World Cup winners 2006/2007 Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) and Tobias Angerer (GER), as well as Jens Arne Svartedal (NOR), the Sprint World Cup winner 2006/2007, and ‘Mr. Düsseldorf’’ Peter Larsson (SWE) who won the opening Sprint race four times in a row (2002-2005) and then last year, the Team Sprint together with Bjoern Lind.

In Düsseldorf, FIS will introduce the ‘lucky loser’ system also in the Team Sprint. In Sunday’s race, the first three teams in both semi-finals will reach the final directly whilst the other four places in the final heat will go to the four overall fastest teams from the semi-finals. “As we saw last season, the lucky loser system in the sprint races worked well and the races were getting faster and faster. Beside tactical aspects, this makes the individual sprint attractive for all-around athletes. We hope that the introduction of the lucky loser rule in the team sprint will have the same effect”, noted Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director.

But where does the snow for this unique event come from? It is artificial snow from the Allrounder Ski Hall in Neuss, located just outside the city of Düsseldorf. Starting on Thursday, 25th October, the snow will be transported by five trucks predominantly at night. The trucks will drive from the Ski Hall in Neuss to the Düsseldorf Rhine bank ca. 15-20 times each. The slope technicians from the ski hall will then create the high-speed World Cup course using the transported snow.

Besides top level sport, there will be a lot going on at the Rhine. Switzerland Tourism will offer a strong entertainment program for all spectators, including a Swiss village. On offer: skiing, a toboggan run, Guggenmusic and Alpine macaroni & cheese. On Saturday evening, there will be the legendary World Cup party at the Allrounder Ski Hall in Neuss, where all the sponsors, VIPs and others can party a bit longer thanks to the end of the daylight savings time (shifting clocks back an hour at 3 am). Click here for more information

Race times (local time):
27th October Sprint Qualification m/w 12.00h
Sprint Finales m/w 14.00h

28th October Team Sprint m/w 14.00h

Attention: The clock will be changed from summer to winter time at 3 am on 28th October to 2 am!

Top three last year:

Sprint
Women                                             Men
1. Marit Bjoergen (NOR)                1. Eldar Roenning (NOR)
2. Natalia Matveeva (RUS)            2. Oeystein Pettersen (NOR)
3. Ella Gjoemle (NOR)                   3. Tor Arne Hetland (NOR)

Team Sprint
Women                                                    Men
1. Norway 1 (Bjoergen, Gjoemle)        1. Schweden 1 (P. Larsson, Lind)
2. Sweden 1 (Andersson, Norgren)    2. Norway 2 (Pettersen, Roenning)
3. Finnland 2 (Kuitunen, Saarinen)     3. Italy 1 (Pasini, Zorzi)

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FIS Cross-Country News: What is your general feeling looking forward to the 2007-2008 season?

Jürg Capol:
First of all, I hope that overall we will have more snow than last season. At the same time, given the lessons learnt from last year, we can rest assured that the FIS World Cup organizers are even better prepared now. We also know that we have many very creative Organizing Committees, which are able to manage even the most difficult situations. Secondly, I believe that education is key for future success. We’ve never organized more seminars for referees, FIS Technical Delegates, homologation experts and so on than this summer and autumn. We are following a clear strategy of distributing knowledge and exchanging information and experiences in order to learn from each other and to develop.

FIS Cross-Country News: What is particular about this season?

Jürg Capol: There are a total of 10 nations organizing FIS World Cup Cross-Country competitions this year, Most Organizing Committees have a lot of experience, and we can expect an even higher general level of event organization.
We will have a long World Cup week in Canmore where several competitions will be held at one site which allows us to reduce the number of venues on the calendar slightly. At the same time, we have requests for several WC competitions from different countries. The test competitions for the FIS World Championships in Liberec are one of the season highlights, along with the Tour and the Final. There we’ll have a year to deliver great 2009 championships with large audiences and a great atmosphere. All in all, I believe that we have a well-balanced World Cup calendar for this season.

FIS Cross-Country News: Are there any changes we should note, in the World Cup or the Tour?

Jürg Capol: We have a lot of changes: In the World Cup, we’ll hold the World Cup Final for the first time as a three-day ‘Mini Tour’ in Bormio (ITA). This is to maintain high interest until the end of the season, Another novelty this season is that we’ll distribute overall FIS World Cup prize money to the best six athletes and also honor the Rookie of the Year (the best Under-23 athlete) with prize money.

Next weekend, we’ll introduce the lucky loser rule in the team sprint, exactly as we did last year in the individual sprint races. The final change is that we’ll have a trial of the nations’ boxes in the mass start races in Rybinsk (RUS). We tested the nations’ boxes that allow the possibility to change skis during an individual start race in Oslo at the traditional Holmenkollen races last season, and now we will try the concept for the first time in a mass start competition.

At the Tour de Ski, we’ve increased bonus seconds for the sprint races as well as introducing more bonus points during the distance races. For the first time, a Tour Team Standing will be introduced where the daily time scores for the best two athletes - both ladies and men - per team and day are added together (for more details, see Tour A-Z). This year, athletes can also win World Cup points (half of a normal race) at each Stage, but only if they finished the Tour on top of Alpe Cermis. Prague has come onboard as a new Tour venue and we will have a sprint race in the old town in front of the historical Prague castle on 30th December. The Tour will continue in Oberstdorf on 1st of January – that’s also unique for the Cross-Country World Cup.

FIS Newsflash: What are your goals for the sport of Cross-Country this season?

Jürg Capol: My focus is on increasing interest in the sport in general, on having the Cross-Country family grow more together and on increasing cooperation among the stakeholders, especially the organizers. I would like to have a large number of nations carrying out FIS competitions and to increase support to smaller nations and the Continental Cup competitions. I would also like to gain additional human power at the World Cup management level.

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Frode Estil (NOR), a top World Cup athlete who retired after last season, is now working as a teacher at a ski college and planning to race some Worldloppet marathons this season. His tip for the season:

“In my view, Tobias Angerer is the top favorite for the overall World Cup. But my former team mates are also in a strong shape. Petter Northug, for example, is becoming more stabile and has improved his double-poling and classical technique considerably. The mass start races are his favorite races and I’m sure he’ll win some of them. But we should not forget about Eldar Roenning. He is working very hard. His weakest part is the free technique.”

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The new season is about to start! Here is a summary of some changes in the family lives of the World Cup athletes since last season as provided by the different National Ski Associations.

CAN
• Sara Renner is planning to return to the World Cup in January after a baby break (Aria was born in Feburary 2007)

CZE
• Kamila Rajdlova is pregnant and will continue her career in 2008/2009

EST
• Kristina Šmigun-Vähi married Kristjan Thor Vähi in July 2007. She will take a break this season and is diligently studying English in the United States

Please click here to read the whole summary

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Last season included the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, the first FIS Tour de Ski and a large number of Viessmann FIS World Cup races on two different continents. As a reminder, please find below a summary of the World Cup standings 2006/2007.

Overall World Cup ranking ladies
1. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN), 1510 points
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR), 941 points
3. Katerina Neumannova (CZE), 894 points (retired after the season)

Overall Distance ranking ladies
1. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN), 650 points
2. Katerina Neumannova (CZE), 627 points (retired after the season)
3. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN), 441 points

Overall Sprint ranking ladies
1. Virpi Kuitunen (FIN), 532 points
2. Petra Majdic (SLO), 385 points
3. Natalia Matveeva (RUS), 313 points

Team Cup ladies: Finland


Overall World Cup ranking men
1. Tobias Angerer (GER), 1131 points
2. Alexander Legkov (RUS), 578 points
3. Eldar Roenning (NOR), 556 points

Overall Distance ranking men
1. Tobias Angerer (GER), 592 points
2. Vincent Vittoz (FRA), 415 points
3. Anders Soedergren (SWE), 348 points

Overall Sprint ranking men
1. Jens Arne Svartedal (NOR), 341 points
2. Trond Iversen (NOR), 286 points
3. Emil Joensson (SWE), 282 points

Team Cup men: Norway

Nations Cup (ladies & men): Norway

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To ensure an excellent atmosphere and great entertainment for the spectators on site at each Tour venue, the Tour organizers have chosen to work with the well-known announcer Roberto Vacchi and a company called Playground for the Tour venue production. Roberto Vacchi, fluent in English, Italian and Swedish, has worked as announcer at several FIS World Cup races in Sweden and was part of the team in Val di Fiemme during the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2003. He also earned a lot of praise for his role as the head announcer at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2007 in Are (SWE).

Roberto Vacchi comes from the world of cycling and has been commentating major events for Eurosport Sweden since the early 1990’s. As a result, he is an expert in competitions held in stages, like the Tour de Ski.

“I’m extremely happy to be part of another big event. I attended the final part of the Tour last year and was amazed about the Final Climb. The big crowds that took the chance to follow the great battle up Alpe Cermis were unforgettable. It’s a honor to have been selected as the international announcer for the second edition of the Tour. I’m looking forward to working with the national speakers and field talents in all three countries to produce events that deliver lasting memories,” stated Roberto Vacchi.

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For the second edition of the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski performance by Craft Sportswear, the Tour Board is pleased to introduce together with its partner Proske Group a Tour Fan Trips Program designed for all passionate Tour de Ski Fans. This is the chance to come and enjoy the Tour de Ski 2007/2008 in a very unique way!

The Tour Fan Trips will make the Tour to your FIS World Cup highlight. You do not need to be worried about where you stay and how to get there. All this will be organized for you so you can fully focus on the thrilling competitions and enjoying yourself at night.
Separate packages are available from the beginning to the end of the Tour with accommodation close to the races, comfortable transport and much more. Please click here to get more information.

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20-year-old Charlotte Kalla from Tärendö, located near the World Cup village Gällivare in the north of Sweden, was one of the newcomers of last season. The three-time Junior World Champion finished 5th in the 10km freestyle competition and 7th in the pursuit at the FIS World Championships in Sapporo. During the Forum Nordicum in her new hometown Oestersund, Charlotte spent some time with the FIS Cross-Country News to give an update on her summer training and her view of the season highlight – the Tour de Ski.

FIS Cross-Country News: How has your summer training been in the Swedish ladies’ team?

Charlotte Kalla: It’s been fun – I’ve enjoyed the training. Together with the 14 ladies of the Swedish A and Junior Teams, I’ve had very good training. We just came back from Crete (GRE) were we had a great training camp for roller skiing and other dry land workouts. Compared to previous years, my training has been tougher; I’ve trained more hours and carried out more interval training. But luckily I haven’t been ill except for a small cold in the middle of October. I’m well-prepared for the season and looking forward to the kick-off in Düsseldorf.

FIS Cross-Country News: What do you think about the Tour de Ski?

Charlotte Kalla: Last year, I didn’t compete in the Tour since I was focused on the Junior World Championships, where I won two gold medals. I’ve heard a lot of stories about the Tour, especially about the Final Climb, but I’m looking forward to it. My receipt will to be just to keep on going and not to look back…just go, go, go and try to be among the top ten.

FIS Cross-Country News: What do you think is your weakest part?

Charlotte Kalla: The sprints will be the toughest for me and also the prologue in the classical technique over 3km in Nove Mesto. The short distances are not my favorites.
I’m stronger in the longer distances and especially in the free technique, so the Final Climb over 9 km in the free technique fits me well.

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T as in Team Standing
The Tour Team Standing premieres at the second Tour de Ski. The Tour Team Standing is a team scoring whereby the racing times of the two best women and two best men per nation each day count for the Team Standing. At the end of the Tour, the best nation will receive a Tour Team Standing trophy. This team scoring is expected to result in the teams working more together and more with team tactics as is often the case in large cycling races.

A as in Abandonment
An athlete may only be entered once for all Tour de Ski Stages. If she or he abandons the race in the middle of a Stage, he/she will be excluded from the rest of the Tour de Ski. This also includes the FIS rule on overlapping. If any athlete is overlapped in a mass start or pursuit race, he/she will have to quit the Tour. In an interval start race, an athlete will be excluded if he/she loses more than 18 % (in ladies’ races) and more than 15% (in men’s races). The Jury of the Tour competition may adapt the percentages in races with special conditions (e.g. strong snowfall)

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• 27th/28th October 2007 World Cup kick-off in Düsseldorf (GER)
• 20th November 2007 11th Edition of FIS Cross-Country News
• 23rd November 2007 2nd Tour Magazine available
• 24th/25th November 2007 FIS World Cup Cross-Country in Beitostoelen (NOR)
  

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