Aside from major championships, Tour de Ski is the biggest, most prestigious event on the FIS cross-country World Cup schedule. But unlike the major championships, Tour de Ski happens every year.
This season’s Tour de Ski starts on December 31, 2022, in Val Müistar (SUI), and concludes on January 8, 2023 in Val di Fiemme (ITA). It is the 17th edition of the stage race.
Tour de Ski is the ultimate test of skills, versatility, endurance and perseverance: seven stages in just nine days, features both sprints and distance races, mass start and individual start events in both skate and classic technique, and as always capping off the competition with the infamous final stage up the alpine run Alpe Cermis.
The overall Tour de Ski winners collect 300 World Cup points, along with fame, glory and lots of cheese. Individual stage winners receive 50 World Cup points, as well as cheese, meaning that the overall winners could take home up to 700 World Cup points if they were to win all the stages.
A total of 326,000 Swiss Francs will be awarded in prize money, equally distributed between men and women.
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Photo by: Nordic Focus
All about the final climb Alpe Cermis
The brutal Alpe Cermis signature stage of the Tour de Ski has been a part of the stage race since the very first Tour de Ski edition, back in 2007.
The final stage of the 2022 Tour de Ski is a little more than eight kilometers. The course starts out on the World Cup stadium in Val di Fiemme. After a lap on the World Cup trails, the course joins the Marcialonga trail for about five kilometers down the valley before making a hard left. The final 2.5 kilometers of the stage, the course climbs more than 400 meters.
Here are some of the skiers to keep an eye on in this year’s tour de Ski:
Krista Pärmäkoski is one of the strongest female skiers on the World Cup. For 31-year-old Finnish veteran, Tour de Ski is an important part of her peaking plan for the 2023 FIS World Championships in Planica I February. But Pärmäkoski could also arrive at the final climb as a contender for the overall Tour.
Mathilde Myhrvold had her definite international breakthrough at last year’s Tour de Ski posting her first World Cup podium on the first day of the 2022 Tour de Ski. This year the 24-year-old Norwegian is back for more.
On the men’s side, Renaud Jay of France has one of his biggest opportunities on day one of the Tour: the skate sprint on New Year’s Eve.
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2023 Tour de Ski Schedule:
December 31: Val Müistar (SUI), sprint F
January 1: Val Müistar (SUI), 10km CL, pursuit
January 3: Oberstdorf (GER), 10km CL
January 4; Oberstdorf (GER), 20km F, pursuit
January 6: Val di Fiemme (ITA), sprint CL
January 7: Val di Fiemme (ITA),15km CL, mass start
January 8: Val di Fiemme (ITA), 10km F, mass start “Monster Hill Final Climb”
Photo by: Nordic Focus