Krista Pärmäkoski and Kerttu Niskanen in the hunt for success

Cross-country skiing’s Tour de Ski starts on New Year’s Eve in Switzerland’s Val Müstair.

Finland’s hopes for success are focused on the women’s team. Iltalehti’s expert Reijo Jylhä four Finnish skiers are capable of good positions in the overall race of the Tour.

– Krista in Pärmäkoski, Kerttu in Niskase, Anne Kyllönen and Jasmi in Joensuu has the greatest chance of success in the overall competition. Three of them are experienced Tour skiers with good experiences and results on all those tracks.

There is a lot of interest in the Men’s Tour Iivo Niskasen, which opens its World Cup season after the coronavirus disease. However, Niskanen previously wrote on his Instagram account that the whole Tour can be “too much for this point”.

Jylhä hopes for men places in the top 20.

– The Finnish men’s early season has been promising. Finland has not been in the same way in the podium fights, but there have been places in the top ten. For positions 10.–20. more skiers have made it.

– In that sense, a steady performance is possible for more people on the Tour.

Hard names out

The Women’s Tour is juicy, because the tour lacks big names.

Finished second in the overall race last season Ebba Andersson was again among the early favorites, but the World Championship bronze medalist decided to stay in Sweden to train. In the background, the coronavirus infection in December weighs heavily.

Won two World Cup sprints this season Emma Ribom and last season’s Olympic champion Jonna Sundling are also on the side. Ribom announced in the second week of December that his body is not responding to training. Sundling, on the other hand, has suffered from a prolonged flu, which is why the World Cup opening has yet to be held.

The Tour doesn’t have a single leading woman. At least the top of the World Cup will emerge from the Norwegian team Tiril Weng and his cousin Heidi Weng.

of the United States Jessie Diggins and Rosie Brennanof Sweden Frida Karlsson and Germany Katharina Hennig will certainly mix things up.

Jylhä admits that the men’s Tour, on the other hand, has a huge Norwegian emphasis.

– There are many men in Norway who are good at sprints and normal distances and both types of skiing. There are several leading men.

– For example Paul Golberg masters all types of skiing. Johannes from Kläbo it’s hard to say because he’s not quite in the shape he’s been in at his best.

Traditional dominates

The Tour’s program is exciting for Finns. Four of the seven races are skied in the traditional way.

– There is certainly an advantage to that. Differences to the overall situation are mainly made with the traditional method, which is a better way to ski, especially for Finnish women’s canine teeth, Jylhä anticipates.

The upside is that the two pursuit races are skied in freestyle. There is only one intermediate start race at the Tour: 10 kilometers on traditional skiing in Oberstdorf.

– All competitions that equalize the situation will take place in free time. At the last race location, two distances are skied in traditional, but the final climb is again a joint start in free.

The story continues after the fact box.

According to Jylhä, success is decided in the joint start races. The focus is especially on the penultimate stage of the Tour, the 15-kilometer traditional joint start.

The journey is exceptional, because 15 kilometers have not been skied in the World Cup this year.

– The traditional 15 of Val di Fiemme is an exceptional trip. There have always been big differences in that race. Krista has skied on the podium almost every year when she has been in good shape.

Last year, Pärmäkoski was third in the penultimate race of the Tour.

The winner of the Tour de Ski will be announced on January 8.