The ninth edition of Tour de Ski is hours away. Here is your cheat sheet to the venues, the stages, the times and the formats for the 2015 version.
OBERSTDORF (GER)
Stage 1: 3km women/4km men F Prologue – January 3rd – women start at 10:45 and men start at 12:45 (CET)
Traditional individual start competition; the 30 best athletes according to the current overall World Cup rankings registered to compete will start in reverse order as the last group. The overall World Cup leader will start last. Athletes with the highest distance FIS points will start between all the seeded athletes. The athlete with the highest distance FIS points will be set as first of those athletes.
Remarks: Bonus seconds for top 3 – winner 15’’, 2nd place 10’’, 3rd place 5’’
Stage 2: 10/15km C Pursuit – January 4th – women start at 11:00 and men start at 12:15 (CET)
For the individual sprint qualification round, the top 30 after 1st stage start first and the starting order within this group will be decided by a draw. Start positions for all other competitors will be assigned according to the FIS Tour de Ski ranking after the 1st stages (the last athlete of the current FIS Tour de Ski standing will start as last).
Remarks: Bonus seconds for top 30 athletes. Winner gets 30 sec, 2nd place 27 sec, 3rd place 24 sec.
VAL MUSTAIR (SUI)
Stage 3: Sprint C for men and women – January 6th – finals begin a 13:15 CET)
For the individual sprint qualification round the top 30 after two stages start first and the starting order within this group will be decided by a draw. Start positions for all other competitors will be assigned according to the FIS Tour de Ski ranking after two stages (the last athlete of the current FIS Tour de Ski standing will start as last).
Remarks: Bonus seconds for top 30 athletes. Winner gets 30 sec, 2nd place 27 sec, 3rd place 24 sec.
TOBLACH (ITA)
Stage 4: 5/10km C – Interval start – January 7th – men start at 13:00 and women start at 15:30 (CET)
The overall FIS Tour de Ski leader after three stages will get the first start position on the grid and bib number 1. Other competitors are assigned next start positions and bib numbers in order of their current FIS Tour de Ski standing after three stages.
Remarks: Bonus seconds sprints – 1 for women and 2 for men on the course + 1 in the finish. Bonus seconds for top 3 – winner 15’’, 2nd place 10’’, 3rd place 5’’
Stage 5: 15/25km F Pursuit – January 8th – men start at 12:15 and women start at 15:30 (CET)
The starting order will be decided according to the current FIS Tour de Ski standings after four stages using the time differences between respective athletes as the start interval. If there are too big time differences in the back of the start field, the jury can decide upon the use of the “wave start”.
Remarks: Bonus seconds for top 3 in the finish – winner 15’’, 2nd place 10’’, 3rd place 5’’
VAL DI FIEMME (ITA)
Stage 6: 10/15km C Mass start – January 10th – men start at 13:00 and women start at 15:45 (CET)
The 30 best athletes according to the current overall FIS Tour de Ski standing after five stages will start in reverse order as the last group. Last 30 athletes according to the current TDS overall standing will start between all the seeded athletes. The athlete ranked last in the current overall TDS standing will be set as first of those athletes.
Remarks: 1 intermediate bonus point for women, 2 for the men. Bonus seconds for top 3 – winner 15’’, 2nd place 10’’, 3rd place 5’’
Stage 7: 9km Pursuit Alpe Cermis – January 11th – men start at 12:00 and women start at 13:30 (CET)
The starting bibs will be assigned according to the current FIS Tour de Ski standings after 6 stages using the time differences between respective athletes as the start interval. To prevent too big start time differences, the jury can decide upon the use of the “wave start”.
Remarks: No bonus seconds on the final stage of the FIS Tour de Ski