Davos, Switzerland Hosts World Cup Cross Country Events

Written by GRP Biathlete Raleigh Goessling

Last weekend’s cancelation of the Lillehammer World Cup stage by Norwegian health officials forced the tour into an unexpected hiatus. Swiss health authorities have given racing the green light, and competitions will begin this Saturday. 

Among all the COVID-19 precautions, Davos will look different this year due to the absence of the Norwegian, Swedish, and Finnish teams. Team managers from the Scandinavian cross country powerhouses deemed overseas travel too much of a health risk and have opted to enter their racers in domestic competitions instead of having them travel to Central Europe.  

Racing action kicks off on Saturday with a skate sprint race. No GRP racers will feature in this race, but it will be the first look at a World Cup field devoid of Scandinavian athletes. With many of the sports’ top stars missing, members of the Russian, American, Swiss and Italian teams become heavy favorites for World Cup hardware.  

The GRP gets involved starting on Sunday. Adam Martin will contest the 15km skate race along with his US Ski Team cohorts. US Ski and Snowboard has created a handy tool to check where and when World Cup races will be shown online and on TV. Adam’s race will be shown on NBC’s Peacock streaming service beginning at 7:30am EST on Sunday. Learn about how to watch NBC’s streaming and cable coverage of World Cup racing here. 

To access start lists, results, race highlights and more from the FIS Cross Country World Cup, check out the FIS website.