Congratulations to all athletes for excellent performances on the Tour so far. In my opinion - this year from watching TV only - there is no doubt that the fourth edition of the Tour de Ski has taken another step forward and is developing towards the goal of being the major Cross-Country event of the season.
The prologues, which are new CC distances over 3-5 km, have become a personal favorite of mine to watch. The increased start interval from 30 seconds to one minute for the best athletes gives us time to really see how the best skiers handle the different parts of the course all the way up to the times to beat at the intermediate points. It looks like more athletes are about to learn how to manage this difficult distance, but still it is amazing to see that a distance of (only) a 3,5 km is creating larger time differences than a 15 km.
Another thing that we have learned once again is that the sprints, and especially the city sprints, are the most demanding to organize. Course design and preparation of the snow are extremely important. They play a crucial role in finding the right balance between a challenging and fair competition for athletes who are fighting for huge amounts of money and prestige. In cities, where snow is spread out just a few hours before the start and the normal course homologation and tests have to be adapted, the risk of having less entertaining and less fair competitions is too often too high.
The most positive race so far was yesterday's race from Cortina to Toblach. I really enjoyed the helicopter pictures of athletes skiing through these beautiful landscapes. It reminded me how skiing and ski competitions originally started some hundred years ago: as transport or warring between remote villages where skiing was the fastest way to travel. I do also think that it is good to have a distance over 30 - 40 km on the Tour program. More of that.
The fight for the overall victory is still very open among all the leaders. Only twenty seconds are splitting the first six men and 30 seconds between the first four women. That should guarantee a battle all the way to the top of Alpe Cermis.
I wish you all good luck.
Yours Vegard Ulvang
