Norway will not participate in the Tour de Ski!

Decision taken after the FIS no to the Norwegian request to carry out the competition in no more than two locations.

Tuesday 8 December 2020 3 minutes reading time

After the renunciation of the Davos and Dresden stages, cross-country skiing Norway has taken the decision not to participate in the Tour de Ski, which will be staged from 1 to 10 January 2021. The news was already in the air from a few days ago, the confirmation arrived today, with an official press release from the Norwegian federation, which explained the reasons for the renunciation: lack of agreement with the FIS for the reduced number of venues and too many risks of contagion traveling to different European countries, as stated today the doctor of the Norwegian national team Osteyn Andersen. The Norwegian head of cross-country skiing Espen Bjervig said about this decision: "As already said, our main objective is the World Championships in Oberstdorf, running the risk of infection before does not seem like a smart choice". Some fears for this situation instead leaked from the words of the coach Eirik Mhyr Nossum: "Selecting the athletes for the World Championships will be tough, since I will have few races available to choose. Honestly I thought that the season could take place with fewer problems, we hope to to be able to compete later in Lahti ". But the Norwegian waivers may not end there: according to what was reported by the local portal "Dagalbet", the federation would not be willing to ask for exemptions from the government regarding the necessary quarantines after a trip to a country considered at risk, therefore, the possibility of not seeing the Scandinavian national team on track until the World Championships in Obertsdorf are not few. This could be another big loss for the Cross-Country Skiing World Cup, which for some time will have to do without the likes of Klaebo, Johaug, Weng and Iversen.