Nordic Skiingtour de ski
ufficio stampa NewsPower
After starting in Val Mustair, in South Tyrol the traditional distance skating and classic pursuit. The Aosta Valley: "Bound by wonderful memories. Klaebo? I hope he'll be back soon".
Wednesday 30 December 2020 7 minutes reading time
The snow arrived in Dobbiaco in silence during the night, once again covering the Nordic Arena and the slopes ready for the Tour de Ski, which are now like a velvet blanket. The “SportOK Dobbiaco” committee is strangely relaxed, because everything has already been prepared well in advance. The races on Tuesday 5 and Wednesday 6 January 2021 look very interesting and it is to be sworn that, without the Norwegians, they will be even more hard-fought challenges and with a result that is not at all obvious.
The Russians love the slopes of Alta Pusteria and last year on the first day they painted the podium with the colors of their country, celebrating Ustiugov, Yakimushkin and Bolshunov. In pursuit instead Ustiugov was folded by Bolshunov. The competitions of 5 and 6 January will be the traditional ones, a 10 and 15 km in free technique on the first day, same distances but pursuit and in classic technique for the Befana. The individual race of 10 and 15 km in free technique will be held on the demanding Nathalie track of 5 km, to be covered twice for the women and three times for the men respectively. For the next day, the pursuit in classic will be competed on different tracks, the 3.3 km “Marina” to be tackled three times for women and the 3.750 km “Isabel” track to be covered four times for males. For all three routes there is the new variant inside the Nordic Arena, with a climb that cuts the long straight before the finish line.
From a technical point of view, the race direction was entrusted to Marina Rizzo who also recently led the Italian Cup, the track and stadium will be managed by Freddy Stauder and Gerhard Steinmair, synonymous with absolute guarantee.
Maximum security protocols for athletes, team entourage and FIS managers, all in a special bubble, pads for everyone, even for the many volunteers involved in the various sectors. The anti Covid protocols were studied by Dr. Pierpaolo Bertoli, health director of the Province of Bolzano, as he has done and is doing for all major events. Patrick De Zordo, also responsible for accreditation, and Lukas Innerhofer of the White Cross, who has gained extensive experience in the field, will also work on site with Irene Watschinger, head of the anti Covid area.
A real shame that the rules force you to play the competitions "behind closed doors", the snow-covered Nordic Arena and all of Dobbiaco are particularly fascinating, but there will obviously be the opportunity to admire the challenges on narrow skis in front of the TV. For the blue colors, Federico Pellegrino, Francesco De Fabiani, Mirco Bertolina, Davide Graz and the regional Giandomenico Salvadori, Paolo Ventura and Michael Hellweger will compete in the Tour de Ski. Among the women, Greta Laurent, Lucia Scardoni, Ilaria Debertolis, Elisa Brocard, Anna Comarella, Martina Di Centa and Francesca Franchi were selected. The only South Tyrolean in the race Michael Hellweger, who, however, as a sprint specialist will compete only in Val Mustair: “I only do the sprint because I don't feel ready for the distance races yet. So far the preparation and the races have been more or less regular and my form is growing, apart from Davos, where I had a really bad day. Too bad there is no sprint in Dobbiaco, because it would have been nice to race at home ”.
Federico Pellegrino likes to talk about Tour de Ski: “I have a wonderful memory of 2015 in Dobbiaco, I had won four races in a row, I had also raced other competitions in Dobbiaco but without winning. It is a track that I really like: in this period I face the days training morning and afternoon, this week it is very important to put hours in the legs according to all the intensity that the Tour de Ski requires, but I also enjoy house with Greta. My prediction? I don't know what to expect in general, because I want to concentrate stage by stage, but my thought is to win the first race in Val Mustair.
If I heard Klaebo I would ask him to come back, because right now that my legs are working well I would like to have a confrontation with him and see how my form is in response to his condition. I hope you will be back soon ".
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Social media engagement
10 Km Female Toblach (ITA)
tour de ski
Wednesday 30 December 202015 Km Male Toblach (ITA)
tour de ski
Wednesday 30 December 202010 Km Female Toblach (ITA)
tour de ski
Wednesday 30 December 202015 Km Male Toblach (ITA)
tour de ski
Wednesday 30 December 2020Più letti in Sport invernali
L'Italia dello skiroll saluta Madona e un Mondiale da 4 medaglie, l'ultima è di Boccardi nella Mass Start
La roveretana è di bronzo nella partenza in linea a skating, firmata dalla solita Ragnhild Aarenkol, con la gara maschile vinta dal padrone di casa Vigants (amaro 4° Dellagiacoma). Titoli juniores alla norvegese Lia e allo svedese Blomberg Gerle.
14