[Startlists are ready!] With free technique sprint on the program on February 11th in Sochi, there is a lot of focus on this discipline in the World Cup the coming month. The free technique sprint in Nove Mesto na Morave in Czech Republic this weekend is the first of three free technique sprints ahead of Sochi.

• Set up your predictions here

Although some of the sprinters participated at the Tour de Ski, most of the pure sprint specialists have had a training period – preparing themselves for the important competition period ahead of the Olympics. On the other hand, several of the sprinters who participated in Tour de Ski have now got a rest period.

Men

Several of the top sprinters where not at the start in Tour de Ski. The best sprinter last year –

• Swedish Emil Jönsson – is hoping to show that he can do well also this season. In Davos in the middle of December he finished only 22nd.
• Italian Federica Pellegrino showed good shape at the sprints in Tour de Ski (4th and 2nd) – and was also 6th in Davos. An interesting skier in Nove Mesto.
• Anders Gløersen (Norway) won the Davos sprint – look out for this Norwegian who can move swiftly through the field towards the end of the race.
• Finn Haagen Krogh has been mentioned among the favourites all of the season – but has so far “only” two 5th places from Davos and Lenzerheide in free technique sprint. Has he recovered well enough after the first part of the Tour?
• Simon Hamilton won the sprint in Lenzerheide during Tour de Ski – was that only a one-timer – or can he play with the best again?
• There are several others who can win this sprint – among them Teodor Peterson, Ola Vigen Hattestad, Martti Julhëe, Sergey Ustiugov.

See below for historical results.

Women

In the women’s class most of the top sprinters were at the Tour de Ski – and several of them jumped off before the end. Notably absent at the Tour was Kikkan Randall – the big favourite in Nove Mesto.

• Randall has four wins and two second places in her last 6 starts in the World Cup in free technique sprint. The big, big favourite both here and at the Olympics.
• Ingvild Flugstad Østberg was very impressive at the Tour de Ski – winning in Lenzerheide and 3rd in Oberhof.
• German Denise Hermann was just as impressive as Flugstad Østberg – racing well in qualification and heat after heat. Finishing 2nd in Oberhof and 3rd in Lenzerheide.
• Hanna Erikson took the victory in Oberhof, and has the series 7 – 1 – 4 in the three free technique sprints organized so far this season.
• Maiken Caspersen Falla is the only one except for Marit Bjørgen who has beaten Kikkan Randall in a free technique sprint the last year. Has not had full success in the sprints so far this season, but has now trained well and wants to show her shape.
• Also look out for Ingemarsdobber, Aurore, Brun-Lie, Kolb and Van der Graff.

Historical results: Men Free technique, Sprint

Name		Lenzerheide 2013-12-31 Sprint Free	Oberhof 2013-12-29 Sprint Free	Davos 2013-12-15 Sprint Free	Lahti 2013-03-09 Sprint Free	Sochi 2013-02-01 Sprint Free	Val Muestair 2013-01-01 Sprint Free	Canmore 2012-12-15 Sprint Free	Quebec 2012-12-08 Sprint Free
JOENSSON Emil				22nd	1st	31st	6th	1st	1st
PELLEGRINO Federico		4th	2nd	6th	31st	56th	2nd	6th	28th
GLOEERSEN Anders				1st	21st	9th		2nd	4th
KROGH Finn Haagen		5th	29th	5th	3rd		1st
NEWELL Andrew		8th	10th	17th	27th	13th	9th	5th	5th
NORTHUG Petter jr.		7th	6th		28th	1st	8th
HALFVARSSON Calle		6th	1st	26th	17th		5th
PETUKHOV Alexey				4th	14th	6th		22nd	3rd
KRIUKOV Nikita				12th	70th	5th		3rd	12th
VALJAS Len				61st	8th	20th	3rd	7th	46th
HARVEY Alex		2nd	11th	45th	56th		12th	52nd	21st
HAMILTON Simeon		1st	35th	14th	58th	17th			33rd
COLOGNA Dario					41st	2nd	4th
JYLHAE Martti				2nd	18th	50th		16th	17th
SUNDBY Martin Johnsrud		3rd	3rd	48th
USTIUGOV Sergey				3rd	23rd	4th
PETERSON Teodor				7th	34th	77th		48th	2nd
HATTESTAD Ola Vigen				11th	2nd	44th
TSCHARNKE Tim		10th	13th		41st			4th
CHERNOUSOV Ilia		9th	19th			7th	14th
MORILOV Nikolay				18th	9th	11th		19th	16th
HOFER David		20th	71st	59th	56th	3rd	21st	21st	29th
KINDSCHI Joeri		22nd	15th	46th	13th	34th		25th	6th
CHEBOTKO Nikolay				37th	4th	22nd	18th	39th	14th
GAFAROV Anton				13th	6th	12th		23rd	37th
WENZL Josef		11th	5th	16th				46th	36th
PENTSINEN Anssi		28th	39th	27th	11th	29th		18th	9th
EISENLAUER Sebastian		18th	7th	15th		24th
WURM Harald		21st	38th	42nd	48th	10th		8th	27th
PERSSON Simon				9th	15th	61st		11th	48th
BRANDSDAL Eirik				8th				40th	7th
ERIKSSON Jens		17th	4th		29th	52nd
KERSHAW Devon		56th	18th	69th		8th	15th	50th	34th
HEDIGER Jovian				41st	7th	58th		26th	23rd
RETIVYKH Gleb				43rd	5th	39th		31st	56th
LEGKOV Alexander		37th	9th				19th
EDIN Johan					26th	71st		29th	8th
DEVJATIAROV Mikhail Jun.				33rd	53rd	33rd		10th	19th
HELLNER Marcus					64th		7th
BELOV Evgeniy		49th	8th
COCKNEY Jesse				82nd	50th			9th	32nd
VYLEGZHANIN Maxim							10th
SCHAAD Roman				10th
SKAR Sindre Bjoernestad					10th
BRYNTESSON Robin				32nd	43rd			38th	10th

Historical results: Women Free technique, Sprint

Name		Lenzerheide 2013-12-31 Sprint Free	Oberhof 2013-12-29 Sprint Free	Davos 2013-12-15 Sprint Free	Lahti 2013-03-09 Sprint Free	Sochi 2013-02-01 Sprint Free	Val Müstair 2013-01-01 Sprint Free	Canmore 2012-12-15 Sprint Free	Quebec 2012-12-08 Sprint Free
RANDALL Kikkan				2nd	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st
OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad		1st	3rd	7th	13th		2nd	5th	4th
HERRMANN Denise		3rd	2nd	3rd	14th	14th	8th	4th	9th
BJOERGEN Marit		13th	5th	1st	2nd
FALLA Maiken Caspersen				8th	33rd			1st	2nd
VAN DER GRAAFF Laurien		4th	13th	10th	15th	8th	12th	8th	31st
KOLB Hanna		5th	10th	22nd	12th	9th	4th	17th	30th
ERIKSON Hanna		8th	1st	4th
JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt		2nd	26th	13th	30th	4th	13th
KYLLOENEN Anne		7th	8th	20th	23rd	13th	26th	12th	7th
BRUN-LIE Celine				18th	7th	3rd		3rd	34th
JEAN Aurore		9th	29th	44th	18th	2nd	9th	18th
INGEMARSDOTTER Ida				39th		7th		9th	3rd
WENG Heidi		12th	35th	15th	11th		3rd
CALDWELL Sophie		6th	22nd	9th	55th			23rd	14th
KOROSTELEVA Natalia				17th	20th	11th	19th	35th	6th
VUERICH Gaia		10th	9th	21st		19th		36th	15th
SARASOJA-LILJA Riikka		35th	34th	11th	5th		11th
FABJAN Vesna				5th	21st	39th	16th	16th	26th
KALLA Charlotte				31st	6th		6th
KOWALCZYK Justyna				25th	10th	43rd	7th	21st
JOHAUG Therese		24th	7th		49th		10th
PROCHAZKOVA Alena				46th	3rd	24th
SARGENT Ida				41st	38th	6th		10th	44th
FESSEL Nicole			4th		56th	20th
NILSSON Stina				6th	17th	25th
BJORNSEN Sadie				27th	9th	21st		22nd	27th
NIKOLAEVA Svetlana					36th	10th		37th	11th
JOHANSSON NORGREN Britta					4th	45th
MALVALEHTO Mona-Lisa				33rd	63rd	30th		33rd	5th
STEIRA Kristin Stoermer		52nd	54th				5th
SOEMSKAR Linn					22nd	40th		7th	33rd
LAUKKANEN Mari						5th
ANGER Lucia		40th	6th
CRAWFORD Chandra				43rd		51st		6th	32nd
PAJALA Magdalena					31st			25th	8th
MATVEEVA Natalia				35th	8th	28th
FALK Hanna				30th	27th	62nd		56th	10th