This is the men’s Nordic Combined season 2020/21
Nov 23, 2020·Nordic Combined
A season which will play out under vastly different conditions than usual is on our doorstep: Ruka (FIN) will open the Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined World Cup season 2020/21 with three men’s events on the upcoming weekend.
Calendar
The other planned stops on the men’s tour are Ramsau am Dachstein (AUT) before Christmas, Val di Fiemme (ITA), Lahti (FIN) and Seefeld (AUT) in January, Klingenthal (GER) and Beijing (CHN) in February, followed by the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Oberstdorf (GER) and two more World Cup weekends in Oslo (NOR) and Schonach (GER) will close out the season in March.
Calendar changes & event confirmation procedures
Of course also the Nordic Combined venues are not immune to the current turbulent times and so far, some calendar changes and cancellations have occurred. The debut Women’s Nordic Combined calendar has been hit particularly hard but all involved parties are working hard that the events can be rescheduled later on in the winter.
Already before the season, the organisers from Chaux-Neuve (FRA) withdrew their event due to the added difficulties from the Covid-19 pandemic, same as their counterparts from Schonach (GER) who had to pull out of the planned World Cup finals for the Nordic Combined women.
More recently, the Nordic competition weekend in Lillehammer, planned for December 3rd-6th had to be postponed. Currently, FIS, the Norwegian Ski Association and the Local Organising Committee are trying to find a replacement date for what would have been the Women’s Nordic Combined premiere weekend.
Otepää (EST) was the second organiser which had to cancel their event due to Covid-19 complications and also here, FIS is looking into replacing the men’s and women’s events at other venues and dates.
Due to the Covid-19 situation, planned events are pre-screened concerning their Covid-19 prevention concept and the number of teams which can travel to the venue without being subject to quarantine. The Event Task force confirms an event 30 days before the first competition. Once the snow control has been passed, the event has green light to proceed.
We will inform you about all decisions here on the FIS website and you can also sign up for the FIS Official Communications to stay up to date with the latest event-related official information.
The men’s favourites
Everyone who wants to win a men’s Nordic Combined World Cup event will have to beat the dominator of winters past: Jarl Magnus Riiber. After his record-breaking 2019/20 season, he needs no more endorsement of his skills to make clear that Riiber is the measuring stick for Nordic Combined these days.
Challengers come from Riiber’s own team: 2019/20 World Cup runner-upJørgen Graabak, shooting star Jens Lurås Oftebro and Espen Bjørnstad, who just beat Riiber at the Norwegian national championship one week before the season start.
Of course, the German team always has to be taken into consideration for the top results, especially with the help of new ski jumping coach Heinz Kuttin. Current national champion Fabian Rießle and Vinzenz Geiger have proven to be in shape but veterans Eric Frenzel and Johannes Rydzek might find their winning setup again as well.
In Austria, Franz-Josef Rehrl seems to be on course as he also claimed one national title, alongside Lukas Greiderer, who has become one of the strongest athletes on the team last winter. Mario Seidl is also reinforcing the team again after his second ACL tear but hasn’t had many training jumps before the World Cup start.
In the Finnish team, Ilkka Herola could delight the home fans watching the Ruka events and also teammate Eero Hirvonen might profit from new jumping coach Falko Krismayr, who could help the team find more success on the jumping hill.
And also last but not least, Mr. Consistency, Akito Watabe needs to be factored into the considerations, as his World Cup victory in Lahti proved last winter.
However, without any international comparisons since March, predictions are hard to make this winter and the World Cup Opener in Ruka will be of double importance as an indicator for the rest of the season.
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