Tour de Ski

The Tour de Ski is a cross-country skiing event held annually since 2007 in Central Europe, modeled on the Tour de France of cycling. Races have been held in the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy over eight days. The prize money for the event amounted to 750,000 Swiss francs, [ [http://www.tour-de-ski.com/fr/news/latest-news.html?actu_id_17=43&actu_page_17=1 Tour Facts] , from tour-de-ski.com] shared out on both men and women. Men's and women's events were held together on the same days.

German Tobias Angerer won the first Tour for men, while Finn Virpi Kuitunen won the first women's Tour.

History

Cross-country skiing had been through a period of renewal from the early 1980s, when the free technique was first introduced to the World Championships which led to a rush of new events, including pursuit skiing, sprint skiing and eventually long mass start races, to complement the old time trial or individual start style of skiing. The Tour is another such new event, and the idea has been reported to come from former Olympic gold medallist Vegard Ulvang. [no icon [http://www.dagsavisen.no/sport/article2432568.ece Ny æra for langrenn] , Dagsavisen, 25 November 2006] Ulvang has also brought up the idea of a tour of the Barents Region, Tour de Barents, with races in Kirkenes (Sandnes) and Vadsø in Finnmark and Murmansk in Russia. [no icon [http://www.langrenn.com/tour-paa-nordkalotten.381870-1743.html Tour på Nordkalotten] , langrenn.com, published 24 November 2006]

Jürg Capol, FIS' chief executive officer for cross-country competitions, said that FIS originally wished to start the race in the Alps. However, as neither Austria or Switzerland were interested, the opening two races were to be held in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic. [no icon [http://www.langrenn.com/jurg-capol-snakker-om-tour-de-ski.380852-1743.html Jürg Capol snakker om Tour de Ski] , langrenn.com quoting Le Matin, 20 November 2006] A week before the Tour was due to start, FIS announced that snow conditions in Nové Město were not good enough, and cancelled the two races there.

Skiers from France [de icon [http://www.xc-ski.de/425-specials_SkilanglaufWeltcup_NoveMesto_Interviews-,e_27209,r_4846.htm Interview mit Vincent Vittoz (FRA) zur Tour de Ski] , from xc-ski.de, retrieved 19 December 2006] , Germany [de icon [http://www.lycos.de/sport/show_story.html,,66847/langlaeufer-angerer-gewinnt-in-la-clusaz.html langläufer angerer gewinnt in la clusaz] , from dpa, retrieved 19 December 2006] and Norway, among others, said that the Tour de Ski was among their targets for the 2006–07 season, with Norwegian skier Jens Arne Svartedal claiming that the winner would have "extreme respect" for winning such an extreme race.no icon [http://www.siste.no/sport/article2403132.ece Tour-favoritter i kø] , Tor Kise Karlsen, ANB, published 10 November 2006]

After the first Tour, reactions among athletes were largely positive. Norwegian athletes said "it was a good concept" [no icon [http://www.ostlandets-blad.no/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070108/SPORT/101080045/1001/NYHETER –Utrolig godt fornøyd] , Karin Harstensen, Østlandets Blad, 9 January 2007] , German winner Tobias Angerer claimed the Tour "has a great future", though many of the athletes expressed concern over the final climb up an alpine skiing hill both before and after the race.no icon [http://www.nettavisen.no/sport/vinter/langrenn/article854878.ece Ulvang varsler Tour-endringer] , Nettavisen, retrieved 9 January 2007] The director of FIS' cross-country committee, Vegard Ulvang, said the finish would be in the same place next year, but the way up could be changed. Ulvang also claimed that the Tour had been a success, and a "breakthrough for FIS" [no icon [http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=151835 Ulvang: - Touren en suksess] , NTB, retrieved from vg.no, 9 January 2007] Ulvang did, however, admit that there would have to be some changes, as up to a third of participants in the Tour have struggled with illness or injury after the competition. [no icon [http://www.siste.no/sport/vinteridrett/article2544344.ece Ulvang varsler Tour-endringer] , ANB-NTB, retrieved 29 January 2006]

Newspaper comments were divided: in Expressen's opinion, the finish was the "most enjoyable competition seen in years," [sv icon [http://expressen.se/index.jsp?a=822660 Tomas Pettersson: Dags att flytta Tour de ski till Sverige - nu] , Expressen, retrieved 9 January 2007] while Roland Wiedemann in Der Spiegel said this "should be the future of cross-country skiing". [de icon [http://www.manager-magazin.de/sport/wintersport/0,2828,458163,00.html Jubel über die Tour der Leiden] , by Roland Wiedemann, Der Spiegel, retrieved 9 January 2007] . Critical commentaries appeared in Göteborgs-Posten, criticising the fact that sprinters didn't have a chance in the overall standings, [sv icon [http://www.gp.se/gp/jsp/Crosslink.jsp?d=412&a=317733 Upplägget måste förändras i Tour de Ski] , Göteborgs-Posten, retrieved 9 January 2007] and Wiesbaden Kurier, describing it as a reality show and a skiing circus. [ [http://www.wiesbadener-kurier.de/sport/objekt.php3?artikel_id=2665142 Ski-Zirkus] , Rolf Lehmann, Wiesbaden Kurier, retrieved 9 January 2007]

The next Tour was held between 28 December 2007 and 6 January 2008, in the Czech Republic and Italy.de icon [http://www.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/30/0,1872,4294942,00.html "Tour de Ski hat große Zukunft"] , ZDF, retrieved 9 January 2006] Oberstdorf in Bavaria was originally scheduled to host two races, but cancelled as the German Ski Federation could only arrange a race on 2 January. [no icon [http://www.nrksport.no/langrenn/1.4181955 Dropper Tour i Tyskland] , Kim Nystøl, NRK, published 30 November 2007, retrieved 9 December 2007]

Race structure

Ranking

The overall results are based on the aggregate time for all events, as well as bonus seconds awarded on sprint and mass start stages.

The two sprint races carry bonus seconds for the finish, which are subtracted from the overall time.

In mass start competitions, intermediate points carry bonus seconds; 15 to the winner, 10 to number two, and 5 to number three. The same amount of seconds are awarded at the finish.

Winner list

Men

Women

References and notes

External links

* [http://www.tour-de-ski.com/ Tour de Ski] homepage