The FIS Council in its meeting on Thursday 31st May confirmed the FIS Cross-Country World Cup calendar for the 2012/13 season. The coming winter will feature many highlights including the 7th edition of the FIS Tour de Ski and the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme.
After one-year break, the world's best Cross-Country skiers will begin their quest for the crystal globes in Gällivare. After the inaugural weekend in Sweden it will be time for the traditional Nordic Opening in Kuusamo where all three Nordic disciplines meet for the first time the coming season.
Having the Scandinavian mission behind, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup will travel overseas to Canada for competitions in Québec and Canmore. Québec will host a free technique team sprint and individual free sprint whereas Canmore will organize mass start distance competitions in classical technique and a free technique sprint. The skiathlon in Canmore on 16th December will conclude the pre-Christmas competition period.
Due to the title event in the 2012/13 season, seven competitions in nine days are scheduled for the seventh edition of the FIS Tour de Ski. The Tour will kick off on 29th December with a free technique prologue in Oberhof, Germany. As a second stage, a pursuit will be held in the Thuringia Forest. For the first time in FIS Tour de Ski history, a stage will be carried out in Switzerland. Swiss Cross-Country skiing fans will have a chance to cheer on Dario Cologna on his home soil in Münstertal in the free technique sprint on 1st January.
After the second rest day, the Tour will continue in Toblach on 3rd January with distance competitions for the ladies and the A to B stage from Cortina to Toblach for the men followed with a short individual start competition in classical technique. The FIS Tour de Ski will traditionally conclude in Val di Fiemme with a mass start race on 5th and the Final Climb on 6th January.
The first weekend after the FIS Tour de Ski is traditionally reserved for sprint specialists and the FIS Cross-Country World Cup will make its stop in Liberec. World class Nordic Skiing action stays in the Northern part of the Czech Republic, as the city of Liberec will be hosting the FIS Junior and U23 World Ski Championships from 20th to 27th January 2013.
La Clusaz, France is on the schedule the following weekend with classical mass start competitions and relays. The 2012/13 season will be an important milestone on the road to Sochi as the pre-Olympic FIS Cross-Country World Cup takes place from 1st to 3rd February. The host of the 2014 Olympic Winter Games will organize three competitions, free technique sprint on Friday, skiathlon on Saturday and classical technique team sprint on Sunday.
The highlight of the 2012/13 season, the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme are scheduled from 20th February to 3rd March.
The season will conclude in Scandinavia with the well-established program featuring Lahti, Drammen, Oslo and the World Cup Final in Sweden with Stockholm and Falun as host venues.
Calendar Online
Please find the FIS Cross-Country World Cup Calendar at: http://www.fis-ski.com/data/document/cal-cc12-13.pdf
