Starting 2020 in Val di Fiemme
Jan 08, 2020·Nordic Combined
The Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined World Cup is back in action after the Christmas and New Year hiatus and a full weekend with three competitions is awaiting the athletes at the Italian venue that comes fresh off the finals of this year’s edition of the Tour de Ski.
Close to 60 athletes are on start for two Individual Gundersen events and the first Team Sprint of the season. Due to technical reasons, this year’s events had to be moved from the large to the normal hill, which promises tighter results after the ski jumping part and closer cross-country races, similar to what we have seen in Ramsau am Dachstein (AUT) before the Christmas break. What exactly the change of hill will effect remains to be seen, as the last high-level competition held on this hill in Nordic Combined was the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship event in 2013.
With all athletes having had ample time for additional training, jumping camps and endurance sessions over the Christmas break, the cards may have been reshuffled for the beginning of the calendar year 2020.
Norwegian dominator Jarl Magnus Riiber will certainly remain the man to watch for in the upcoming events but in the last years, especially his teammate and World Cup runner-up Jørgen Graabak enjoyed this venue, as two victories and four Team Sprint victories can attest to. Ramsau-winner Vinzenz Geiger celebrated his first World Cup victory in Val di Fiemme last year, while Riiber still has to step onto a World Cup podium on Italian soil.
Next to Graabak and Geiger, Austrian veteran Bernhard Gruber tends to do well in Val di Fiemme (2 victories) and with the ski jumping events taking place on the normal hill, also local hero Alessandro Pittin might have a chance to finally go for a top result on home ground.
The programme
Thursday, 09.01.
12:00 Official Cross-country training
17:00 Official training HS 104
19:00 Provisional Competition Round/Qualification HS 104
Friday 10.01.
09:00 Trial Round HS 104
10:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 104
13:50 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race
Saturday, 11.02.
08:45 Qualification/Trial Round HS 104
10:00 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN Competition Round HS 104
13:30 INDIVIDUAL GUNDERSEN 10 km cross-country race
Sunday, 12.02.
08:45 Trial Round HS 104
09:30 TEAM SPRINT Competition Round HS 104
14:00 TEAM SPRINT 2 x 7.5 km cross-country race
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