World Championship dress rehearsal in Lahti

The last Viessmann FIS World Cup weekend before the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld (AUT) is finally here and the venue of the previous championships, Lahti (FIN) will help set the scene, view latest developments and offer a dress rehearsal Team Sprint and a final Individual Gundersen event. The venue comes right off the 2019 FIS Nordic Junior World Championships two weeks ago and is in perfect shape for an exciting World Cup weekend.

Defending World Champion and last year’s Lahti winner Johannes Rydzek and his teammates of the German A-team will not make an appearance in Finland and prioritise training in Oberstdorf and Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Instead, Lahti Junior World Champion Julian Schmid makes a timely return to the venue of his triumph, along with fellow young athletes Martin Hahn, David Mach, Wendelin Thannheimer and Maximilian Pfordte.

TRIPLE winner Mario Seidl will finally join the World Cup again after having to sit out the two last weekends due to illness. His Seefeld-bound teammates Franz-Josef Rehrl, Martin Fritz, Lukas Klapfer and Lukas Greiderer are headed to a preparatory training camp in Oberstdorf as well, so that Seidl will be joined by veterans Bernhard Gruber and Willi Denifl (last year’s Team Sprint winners), Thomas Jöbstl and the other reigning Lahti Junior World Champion, Johannes Lamparter.

Even though yellow-bib bearer Jarl Magnus Riiber will also put in some more training days after securing his overall World Cup victory last weekend, his World Championship team colleagues Jan Schmid, Jørgen Graabak, Espen Bjørnstad and Magnus Krog are back from their training break and definitely among the top contenders for the upcoming weekend, for the Individual and also for the Team Sprint.

The Finnish audience will love to welcome their local heroes, especially Ilkka Herola and Eero Hirvonen, who had a performance surge last weekend in Klingenthal and both returned to the Top Ten positions, with Herola even setting a career-best second place. This bodes well especially for the Team Sprint, in which Herola and Hirvonen were able to capture a third place last year already.

Other questions to be answered are how last year’s overall winner Akito Watabe’s shape has developed after a training week at home in Japan and if the French team’s new (old) coach Etienne Gouy was able to turn the athletes back to the right track after taking over last week for predecessor Fred Baud.

The stage is set for an exciting dress rehearsal, which might have some surprises in store.

Programme (local times! CET + 1h)

Friday, 08.01.
12:00 Official Training HS 130
14:00 Provisional Competition Round / Qualification
16:00 Official cross-country Training

Saturday, 09.01.
11:30 Trial Round HS 130
12:30 TEAM SPRINT Competition Round HS 130 
16:40 TEAM SPRINT 2x 7.5 km cross-country race

Sunday, 10.01.
11:30 Trial Round HS 130
12:30 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 130 
16:15 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race

Timetable subject to change!

Quick Facts:

HILL

Salpausselkä
HS 130

TRACK

Karpalo North Course
1.5 km free-technique loop
Total climb: 47 m
Maximum climb: 25 m
Height Difference: 21 m

Karpalo North Course
2.5 km free-technique loop
Total climb: 103 metres
Maximum climb: 32 metres
Height Difference: 36 metres

LAST YEAR’S PODIUM
TS 1. Denifl/Gruber (AUT), 2. Graabak/Schmid (NOR), 3. Herola/Hirvonen (FIN)
IG: 1. Johannes Rydzek (GER), 2. Vinzenz Geiger (GER), 3. Jørgen Graabak (NOR)