Kerttu Niskanen Upset Over New Catastrophic Elements in Tour de Ski Olympic Courses?

Live broadcasts on TV2 and Yle Areena for the men's combined race in the Tour de Ski will start at noon and for the women's combined competition at 4:30 PM! Find everything about the Tour de Ski in the popular sports studio live tracking here!

Criticism surged on Friday regarding the sprint course expected for next year's Olympic Games at the Tour de Ski. Experts, athletes, and coaches described it as "sad," "the worst in history," and "absurd".

Finland's star Kerttu Niskanen did not provide a rosy picture of Saturday's combined race route either.

"It's going to be a rally course. Classic and freestyle will be on the same route. Steep climbs, curves, and fast descents. The men will ski before the race, so will we have any trails left?" Niskanen pondered for Yle Sports.

Ville Oksanen, one of Finland's coaches, quipped that Niskanen's comment comparing it to a rally course meant different things to different people.

Oksanen believes that based on previous feedback, differences will be seen in Val di Fiemme on Saturday. He illustrated that there are steep hills and tight curves on the route, compared to, for example, Ruka or Lahti, although the climbs may not be so long.

However, Oksanen speculates that problems may arise from the narrow trails. The total race will be conducted over 20 kilometers (10 km + 10 km) on the same 3.3 kilometers loop.

"It's not designed to have both styles skied. Certain spots may be tight. Hopefully, poles or skis or anything else won't break too much," Oksanen said.

In general, he mentions that the first impression of next year's Olympic courses has been a feeling of variety. There are good climbs but descending must also be learned.

Nevertheless, as the example from the Tour's combined races shows, there are many trails in the area that aren't yet skied on. There isn't even any snow on them. Currently, only that 3.3 kilometers loop from traditional distances is ready.

In Saturday's combined race, after the changes, they will start higher than previous at the stadium corner, from where they will head into the second last climb.

"The pace is really high and the turn is quite tight. If something happens to someone there, it could end badly," Oksanen says.

The coach nonetheless points out that there have been much more dangerous places in the racing calendar.

"But if something happens, it's indeed bad," Oksanen characterizes.

According to Aftonbladet's report, the special resolution is due to the landowner not granting permission to use the traditional skiing route. According to FIS representatives, neither they nor the race organizers could do anything about it.

Race manager Enzo Macor, head of the organization committee for the cross-country skiing races in Val di Fiemme, states that the courses have been changed significantly with thoughts of the Olympics in view. They have also not yet been finalized.

According to Macor, before the competition weekend, feedback on the courses was generally positive. They will listen to more feedback after the weekend from FIS and the teams.

"If there's something to change, we have time for it. I hope we don't have to change anything on the courses," Macor said on Thursday.

It is also intended to race at next year's Tour de Ski a month before the Olympics.

Kimmo Porttila and Ville Nousiainen's outline of the upcoming sprint Olympic course.

According to the race manager, they are now focusing much on preparing the final part of the free technique lap, where the combined competitions, relay competitions, and even the 50-kilometer classical race will be decided at the Olympics.

The most visible changes relate to the fact that the audience will be able to see many more race events in the traditional competition venue in Val di Fiemme.

This is a significant thing since in the last two previous Winter Olympics in Beijing and Pyeongchang, there was no access to the race trail at all.

However, the main grandstand is also not yet ready. At the Tesero stadium, a grandstand for 5,000 people is supposed to be constructed.

Logistics problems?

According to the race manager of Val di Fiemme, improvements have also been made to the areas for athletes and their support staff. In addition, they have focused on centralizing various spaces, such as VIP areas and the jury's spaces in the same locations. Previously, according to Enzo Macor, they were scattered.

Not all changes have been revealed yet by the race manager either. He promises surprises but does not specify them any further.

Yle also asked the race manager about possible logistics issues during the Olympics as the only or two ways to the ski stadium Tesero reach only via narrow roads.

"In the valley, we don't have many roads. The organizing committee is examining a plan that would have one-way routes on one side of the valley and one-way routes going in the other direction on the other side of the valley," Macor describes.

According to Macor, organizers hope the audience would arrive at the event by bus. However, he is not sure if the teams or media personnel can use the buses.

"From my experience, that's not the right way, but of course, we will try our best to solve these challenges," Macor reflects.

Updated at 9:37 AM. Aftonbladet's report added that the landowner did not permit the use of another trail.