LADIES' WORLD CUP RUKA, 27-29 NOVEMBER 2015

Johaug or Kalla to step up as the new queen of Ruka?

- The World Cup Tour in Ruka will have a new winner this year. Marit Bjørgen has won all previous four Tours held here.
- Last season, Charlotte Kalla finished second and Therese Johaug third. Both Johaug and Kalla have two Tour podiums in Ruka, equal with Justyna Kowalczyk.
- Norway has occupied eight of the 12 podium places in an overall World Cup Tour in Ruka. Kalla (2) and Kowalczyk (2) are the only two non-Norwegian to finish on the Tour podium in Ruka.
- Bjørgen has won 10 individual World Cup races in Ruka. No other female athlete has more than three wins here (Kowalczyk, Majdic and Johaug).
- Kowalczyk has the second most World Cup race podiums in Ruka with seven, equal with Kristina Smigun. Marit Bjørgen has 18 podiums in the 29 individual races held here. Therese Johaug has six podiums in Ruka.
- Of this season’s active skiers, only Kowalczyk (5), Johaug (3) and Kalla (1) have won a World Cup Tour. Bjørgen has won 10 of the 21 World Cup Tours held. Only five different female athletes have shared the 21 Tour wins, with Virpi Kuitunen winning three Tours as well.
- The last six World Cup Tours have seen a Norwegian winner (Bjørgen 4, Johaug 2), since Justyna Kowalczyk won Tour de Ski in January 2013.
- The last four World Cup Tours for ladies have seen Norway take all three positions on the podium. The last non-Norwegian to finish on the podium in a World Cup Tour is Charlotte Kalla, who was second in the Tour in Ruka in December 2013.
- Kalla and Kowalczyk are the only two non-Norwegians to finish on a World Cup Tour podium in the last 12 Tour events, since Italian Marianna Longa finished third in the Tour de Ski in January 2011.

1st stage, Sprint Classical style

Falla favourite for maiden Ruka-win

- Maiken Caspersen Falla won the final sprint classical style event of last season, winning at home in Drammen. Falla was third in the sprint World Cup last season, behind Marit Bjørgen and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg.
- Falla has won both of her World Cup events in classical style in Drammen, but she was third in Ruka last season, behind Bjørgen and Katja Visnar, who both are on maternity leave this season.
- Norway won all four World Cup sprint events in classical style last season. Marit Bjørgen won twice, Østberg once and Falla once.
- Only three different athletes have shared the nine sprint classical victories in Ruka. Marit Bjørgen (4), Petra Majdic (3) and Justyna Kowalczyk (2) are the only winners here.
- Norwegian athletes have won the last six World Cup sprint events in classical style, since Justyna Kowalczyk won in Asiago in Dec 2013.
- Kowalczyk with nine wins and Falla with two wins are the only two active athletes with more than one World Cup win in sprint classical style. Kowalczyk is equal with Bente Skari on nine wins, only Petra Majdic (14) and Marit Bjørgen (16) have more.
- Norwegian athletes have won 29 of the 67 World Cup events held in sprint classical style. Slovenia (Majdic) with 14 and Poland (Kowalczyk) with nine wins are the closest countries. Norway has five different winners, Bjørgen (16), Skari (9), Falla (2), Østberg (1) and Ella Gjømle (1).
- Finland is fourth in the country standings of sprint classical style wins with eight wins. Virpi Kuitunen (6), Pirjo Muranen (1) and Mona-Liisa Nousiainen (Malvalehto) (1) have won the races. Four of Finland´s eight wins have come in Norway, but none at home snow in Finland.

MEN'S WORLD CUP RUKA, 27-29 NOVEMBER 2015

Sundby to continue his Tour-dominance?

- Martin Johnsrud Sundby has won the overall World Cup in the last two seasons. Much of the foundations in his overall wins have come in the World Cup Tours. Sundby has won all five World Cup Tours held in the last two seasons.
- With five overall World Cup Tour wins he is equal with Petter Northug and Dario Cologna as the three athletes with the most wins.
No other athlete has managed to win more than two consecutive World Cup Tours.
- In his five Tour wins, Sundby has only won two stages. One in the Tour de Ski in January 2014, and one in the Opening Tour in December 2014 (Lillehammer).
- Sundby has only won four individual World Cup races (excluding Tour stages and Tour overalls) in his career, two in 15km classic style and two in 15km freestyle).
- Sundby’s first World Cup win came in Ruka, 15km classic style in November 2008.
- Petter Northug has won two of the four World Cup Tours held in Ruka. Sundby has one win, while Alexander Legkov won the first edition in 2010.
- No athlete has more than two overall podiums in Ruka. Northug, Legkov, Dario Cologna and Maxim Vylegzhanin all have two overall podiums.
- The 29 individual World Cup races held in Ruka have seen 23 different winners. Lukas Bauer (3), Axel Teichmann, Eirik Brandsdal, Ola Vigen Hattestad and Petter Northug (2) are the five athletes with more than one individual Ruka-win. 18 athletes have one win each.
- Norway has won 13 of the 29 individual men’s races held in Ruka. Russia is closest with four wins.
- Home nation Finland got their first male World Cup win in Ruka last season, when Iivo Niskanen won the 15km classic style, his only individual World Cup victory to date.

1st stage, Sprint Classical style

Brandsdal on track for a historic Ruka hat-trick

- Eirik Brandsdal has finished second the overall sprint World Cup in the last two seasons. Brandsdal has won the sprint in classical style in the last two editions in Ruka. If he wins again on Friday, he will complete his Ruka hat-trick, being the first male athlete with three sprint wins in Ruka.
- Brandsdal´s team mate, Ola Vigen Hattestad, won twice in a row 2008 and 2009. Hattestad will not compete in Ruka this year, he attended the birth of his first child earlier this week.
- Norwegian athletes have won seven of the nine World Cup sprints held in Ruka, the exceptions is Teodor Peterson in 2011 and Nikita Kriukov in 2012.
- Brandsdal and Kriukov have the most sprint podiums in Ruka with three each.

Norway could win fourth clean sweep in Ruka

- Last season Norway took the first four positions in the sprint classical style in Ruka. Eirik Brandsdal won, ahead of Petter Northug, Sondre Turvoll Fossli and Finn Hågen Krogh.
- This was the third time Norway took all three podiums in the sprint classical style in Ruka, managing the same in 2006 and 2008.
- In 2006 Norway won the top five positions in this event, with Emil Jönsson in sixth place being the only non-Norwegian in the final.
- No other country than Norway has managed to take all three podiums in a classical sprint in Ruka.
- Norwegian athletes won all four World Cup races in sprint classical style last season. Eirik Brandsdal won twice, Finn Hågen Krogh and Tomas Northug one each. In addition, Petter Northug won the World Championships in Falun.
- In the history of the classical sprints in the World Cup, Norway has won 47 of the 67 events held. Only six different countries have managed a win in this event, Sweden has 12 wins, Russia five, Italy, Kazakhstan and Switzerland one each.

Source: fis-ski.com