Dresden Sprint F Preview

PREVIEW Ladies' SPRINT FREESTYLE – Saturday 13 Jan 2018

• Stina Nilsson (SWE), who did not compete in this season's Tour de Ski, is aiming for her first World Cup victory since 9 December 2017, when she won the sprint free in Davos.
• Nilsson has won four of the last five sprint free World Cup events. The only exception in this run was the Tour de Ski race in Lenzerheide on 30 December 2017, when Laurien Van der Graaff (SUI) claimed her first ever World Cup victory.
• Nilsson has won seven of the last eight sprint World Cup races in which she participated, with a fifth-place finish in the sprint classic in Lillehammer on 2 December 2017 as the only exception.
• Only Kikkan Randall (USA, 12) and Marit Bjørgen (NOR, 24) have won more sprint free World Cup events than Nilsson (8).
• Including classic sprint events, Nilsson (11) can equal Randall (12) in fifth place all-time among women for most World Cup victories (including stages).
• Sophie Caldwell (USA), who finished in second place in the sprint free in Lenzerheide, is aiming for her second World Cup victory after her triumph in the sprint classic in Oberstdorf (Tour de Ski) on 5 January 2016.
• Caldwell or Randall, could become the first non-European athlete to win a sprint free World Cup race since 1 March 2014, when Randall won in Lahti.

PREVIEW Men's SPRINT FREESTYLE

• Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR), who did not compete in this season's Tour de Ski, is aiming for his first World Cup victory since 17 December 2017, when he won the 15km pursuit in Toblach.
• Klæbo won seven of the 10 World Cup events this season prior to the Tour de Ski (incl. 3-Day Tour stages and overall 3-Day Tour win), including all three sprint events (classic and free).
• Last season's sprint World Cup winner Klæbo has won nine of the last 12 World Cup events (incl. Tour stages and overall Tour classifications) in which he participated (all events).
• Klæbo has won three of the last four sprint World Cup events (classic and free). The only exception in this run was the sprint free in Lenzerheide on 30 December 2017 (Tour de Ski), when Sergey Ustiugov (RUS) triumphed.
• Klæbo has recorded seven top-three finishes in sprint World Cup events since the start of 2016/17, most of all athletes and one more than Ustiugov (6).
• Klæbo has reached the podium in five of his last six sprint World Cup appearances, with an eighth-place finish in the sprint free in Quebec (World Cup Final) on 17 March 2017 as the only exception.
• On 18 February 2017, Klæbo won the sprint free in Otepää at 20 years and 119 days old to become the youngest ever individual World Cup winner (incl. Tour stages and overall Tour wins) in men's events.
• Federico Pellegrino (ITA) is aiming for his first World Cup victory since 28 January 2017, when he won the sprint free in Falun.
• Pellegrino (9) could become the fifth athlete with at least 10 sprint World Cup wins (classic and free). Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) and Petter Northug (NOR) are also on nine sprint World Cup victories.
• No athlete has won more sprint World Cup events since the start of 2011/12 than Pellegrino (9). Brandsdal is next on eight wins.