Coming up: Men’s 2023-24 Season Opening in Ruka (FIN)
Nov 22, 2023·Nordic Combined
Far up north, the Viessmann FIS Nordic Combined World Cup will start its 2023/24 season with the traditional Ruka tour.
Close to the polar circle, the Finnish ski resort is known for its exciting but difficult venues, welcomes the Nordic Combined men for the 22nd time.
With a HS142, Rukatunturi is the largest hill on the Nordic Combined World Cup calendar, that is often very windy, while temperatures can drop to -20°C.
The challenging conditions lead to many surprise winners in the past: Jens Luraas Oftebro (NOR) in 2020, Terence Weber (GER) in 2021 and Julian Schmid (GER) in 2022 all secured their maiden World Cup victory here.
This year, all eyes will be on Schmid again, who also secured his first Ruka Tour title last season, ending the winning streak of Jarl Magnus Riiber, who took three straight Ruka Tour titles in a row.
Therefore, the Norwegian World Champion will be one of the Germans greatest opponents this year.
Schmid can become the first German to win the opening individual event in consecutive World Cup seasons since Ronny Ackermann in 2008.
Germany is also bringing Summer Grand Prix champion Johannes Rydzek, who won a total of four Individual events in Ruka already.
Meanwhile, the Austrian team will count on Overall World Cup winner Johannes Lamparter, who came in second behind Riiber three times in Ruka and is aiming for the podium again this year, to defend is Overall title from the beginning.
Estonian Kristjan Ilves is looking to become the first Estonian to win an individual
World Cup event, after finishing runner-up four times in individual World Cup events.
His best result in Ruka so far, is a fourth place in 2021.
For the Finnish team, Ilkka Herola and Eero Hirvonen will try to score important World Cup points on home soil.
As in the years before, the World Cup will start with the Opening Tour. The Individual Compact format will celebrate its World Cup premiere on Friday, followed by a Gundersen competition on Saturday and a Mass Start on Sunday, with the Cross-Country distances of 7.5 km, 10 km and 10 km.
Since no qualification is taking place, all athletes are allowed to start all parts of the competitions on all days.
For each event, the normal amount of World Cup points is awarded and the athlete with the most World Cup points after these three events wins the tour.
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