Tour de Ski
| Tour de Ski | |
|---|---|
logotype
|
|
| Status | active |
| Genre | sporting event |
| Date(s) | late December – early January |
| Frequency | annual |
| Inaugurated | 2006 |
| Organised by | FIS |
The Tour de Ski (TdS) is a cross-country skiing event held annually since the 2006-2007 season in Central Europe, modeled on the Tour de France of cycling. Each Tour de Ski has consisted of six to nine stages, held during late December and early January in the Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. The prize money for the event amount to 1,055,000 Swiss francs (844,000 euros), shared out on both men and women. Men's and women's events are held together on the same days, with the only difference being the distance skied.
Cross-country skiing had been through a period of renewal from the early 1980s, when the free technique was first introduced to the World Championships which led to a rush of new events, including pursuit skiing, sprint skiing and eventually long mass start races, to complement the old time trial or individual start style of skiing. The Tour is another such new event, and the idea has been reported to come from former Olympic gold medallist Vegard Ulvang. Ulvang has also brought up the idea of a tour of the Barents Region, Tour de Barents, with races in Kirkenes (Sandnes) and Vadsø in Finnmark and Murmansk in Russia.
Jürg Capol, FIS' chief executive officer for cross-country competitions, said that FIS originally wished to start the race in the Alps. However, as neither Austria or Switzerland were interested, the opening two races were to be held in Nové Město na Moravě in the Czech Republic. A week before the Tour was due to start, FIS announced that snow conditions in Nové Město were not good enough, and cancelled the two races there.
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