Cross-country skiing World Cup kicks off in Norway

After the alpine skiers have already started their Olympic winter, the cross-country skiers follow this weekend as the first of the Nordic skiing disciplines. The first World Cup races of the 2009/10 winter are getting underway at this very moment in the small ski resort of Beistostölen in Norway. They are competing both for valuable points in the overall World Cup and for qualification for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. The German cross-country skiing team has mixed expectations for this World Cup winter, and the same is true of the opening event in Norway.

Among the men, national cross-country skiing coach Jochen Behle has several contenders in Tobias Angerer, Axel Teichmann and René Sommerfeldt, all considered favourites for both the World Cup and the Olympics. However, the priority is clearly the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Behle said of the goals for the coming weeks and months. Expectations for the German women’s cross-country skiing team will probably need to be scaled back a little this winter, as Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle is not yet back to full strength in Beistostölen after foot surgery. Claudia Nystad, meanwhile, should also be in contention for a top finish at the World Cup opener in Norway. The German cross-country skiing team in Beistostölen is rounded out, among both the men and the women, by several promising young athletes who are to be carefully developed into world-class competitors.

Although Beistostölen in Norway has only a little over 300 residents, it nevertheless has several alpine ski slopes and cross-country trails. The holiday apartments and hotels in Vestre Slidre, which includes Beistostölen, offer ideal conditions for a fantastic ski holiday in Norway. With its cross-country skiing and biathlon World Cups, Beistostölen has been a fixture on Norway’s sporting events calendar for years.