World Cup Windup by Fasterskier.com

Fasterskier.com (FS) has put together a fantastic look into the top 10 World Cup teams from last season.  They will release all 10 in the lead up to the World Cup opener in Ruka, Finland next week.  So far 1. Norway, 2. Sweden, and 3. Finland have been released.

Excerpts from FS:

Welcome to World Cup Windup, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts with the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 24.

3. FINLAND

Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: Third, by just 106 points over Russia

Women’s Ranking 2016/2017: Third

Men’s Ranking 2016/2017: Fourth

Who’s Back:

World Cup overall title runner-up Krista Parmakoski, fifth-place Matti Heikkinen, and eighth-place Kerttu Niskanen; Iivo Niskanen, fourth in the distance standings (behind Heikkinen in third); and Laura Mononen, ninth in the distance standings. Plus, podium finisher Anne Kylloenen, and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen who returned to World Cup action after maternity leave and scored some top-tens.

Who’s Missing:

Sami Jauhojärvi. The veteran, who raced on the World Cup for 16 seasons and teamed up with Iivo Niskanen for gold in the 2014 Olympic team sprint, called it quits this spring. “I’m not tired of skiing, but at some point it just happens that competitive instincts begin to fade,” Jauhojärvi told InsideTheGames. “By training I could be pushing my limits for a few more years, but my competition mind is done. … I do not think any more about fighting for gold medals at future Olympics.”

For the complete article click HERE.

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2.  SWEDEN

Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: Second

Women’s Ranking 2016-2017: Second

Men’s Ranking 2016-2017: Third

Who’s Back:

Stina Nilsson, second in the Sprint Cup and fourth in the World Cup overall; Hanna Falk, third in the Sprint Cup; Marcus Hellner, who finished sixth in the World Cup overall; Charlotte Kalla, ninth overall; Calle Halfvarsson, who won two World Cups; and Jens Burman and Jonna Sundling, the runner-up and fourth-ranked skiers in the for the World Cup U23 standings. Plus, 2014 Olympic team sprint bronze (soon-to-be-silver) medalists Emil Jönsson and Teodor Peterson, and Ida Ingemarsdotter, who teamed up with Nilsson for silver in the same event in 2014.

Who’s Missing:

Sweden’s Marcus Hellner – who had something of a comeback last season – leads Germany’s Florian Notz during the third leg of the men’s 4 x 10 k relay at 2017 World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Sweden ultimately placed third and Germany sixth. (Photo: John Lazenby)
Sweden’s wily and bold distance specialist, Johan Olsson. Olsson announced his retirement in April at age 37 after winning back-to-back World Championships 50 k titles in 2013 and 2015, and contributing to Swedish relay gold at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. “I have spent 15 years trying to realize my sporting dreams,” he explained at the time. “Now I will be able to realize completely different dreams, and I will be able to be a much more present dad.”

For the complete article click HERE.

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1. NORWAY

Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: First, by a landslide: 13,383 points to 7,053 by runner-up Sweden.

Women’s Ranking 2016/2017: First

Men’s Ranking 2016/2017: First

Who’s Back:

Overall World Cup winners Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Heidi Weng; Sprint Cup winners Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Maiken Caspersen Falla; World Cup race winners Finn Hagen Krogh, Emil Iversen, Sindre Bjørnestad Skar, Pål Golberg, Eirik Brandsdal, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, and Marit Bjørgen, And that’s just the skiers who won World Cups last season. There’s also other folks like, oh, Petter Northug and Astrid Jacobsen, who didn’t pick up individual wins last season but are probably pretty hungry.

Who’s Missing:

Therese Johaug. The world champion and two-time World Cup overall champion is still sitting out a doping ban for using a lip cream containing a prohibited steroid.

Other than that, athletes usually don’t retire just before an Olympics, so pretty much everyone is back.

Complete article is available HERE.