With many of the top names missing – especially in the men’s class – we have very open races in Rybinsk this weekend. With the current temperatures, it might even be open if there are any races at all…

Add to that that there are very few 15 km/10km Free Mass start races in the World Cup.

• Set up your XC-Predictions for the 10/15 km Free race in Rybinsk here by Saturday 11:15 CET
• Set up your XC-Predictions for Sunday’s Skiathlon here by Sunday 09:30 CET

In the tables below relevant results from earlier races are shown. It is evident that of the men who have placed Top 10 in 15 km Free Mass start the last seasons, only a small percentage of them are on the start list in the 15 km here in Rybinsk.

As always in Rybinsk (see a table for Rybinsk results further down), expect some Russians to be in the top – both the high profile ones like Legkov, Vylegzhanin and Sedov – but also less well-known skiers on the local quota. In addition to the Russians, Maurice Manificat (FRA) and Roland Clara (ITA) should be counted among the top favourites.

In the women’s class, the situation is quite different. Most of the top names are on the startlist, and we expect again a fight between Marit Bjørgen (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) where Bjørgen will try to take back the overall World Cup lead. It will not be an easy job though, as the Polish skier has shown impressive shape lately while Bjørgen was ill during the Norwegian Championships last weekend.

Other favourites in the women’s class are Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and the other Norwegian skiers Skofterud, Johaug and Kristoffersen. Also count in Russian Khazova with the home ground advantage.

Relevant results

Since there are very few 15 km / 10 km Free Mass start races in the World Cup, the number of races included in the tables this time are increased. This time all 10/15 km Free races and all Mass start free races except for the 30 km/50 km ones are included.

Name		2011 Sjusjoen 2011-11-19 15 km F	2010 La Clusaz 2010-12-18 30 km F Mst	2010 Gällivare 2010-11-20 15 km F	2010 Whistler Olympic Park 2010-02-15 15 km F	2010 Canmore 2010-02-05 15 km F	2009 Davos 2009-12-12 15 km F	2009 Beitostoelen 2009-11-21 15 km F	2009 Lahti 2009-03-08 15 km F	2009 Rybinsk 2009-01-30 15 km F Mst
DI CENTA Giorgio		27th	15th		10th	1st	14th	17th	5th	7th
HEIKKINEN Matti		40th	35th	82nd	39th	54th	1st	3rd	33rd	13rd
OLSSON Johan		1st		32nd	11st	7th	22nd	8th	17th
LEGKOV Alexander		11st	3rd	6th	15th	15th	25th	7th	1st	4th
ANGERER Tobias		14th		44th	7th	14th	29th	24th	21st	1st
COLOGNA Dario		7th	4th	2nd	1st	3rd	31st	20th	12nd	10th
HELLNER Marcus		9th	29th	1st	4th	6th	2nd	9th	40th
VYLEGZHANIN Maxim		16th	1st	15th	9th	49th		50th	6th	28th
HAFSAAS Ronny Andre		38th			42nd			1st
GAILLARD Jean Marc		48th	23rd	57th	32nd		8th		50th	2nd
NORTHUG Petter jr.		2nd	2nd		41st		21st	4th	7th
PILLER COTTRER Pietro		34th	33rd	39th	2nd	2nd	10th	11st	2nd	5th
VITTOZ Vincent				28th	5th		5th	2nd	44th	9th
BAUER Lukas			5th	8th	3rd				9th
RICKARDSSON Daniel		30th	9th	3rd	22nd	23rd	38th
CLARA Roland		3rd	39th	20th		27th	49th	48th	8th	12nd
DOLIDOVICH Sergei			12nd	60th	35th	45th	33rd	25th	4th	3rd
MANIFICAT Maurice		17th	28th	17th	6th		3rd	35th	11st
HOFFMANN Christian							55th	36th	3rd	24th
HALFVARSSON Calle		4th	54th	50th
JONNIER Emmanuel			52nd		20th		4th	68th	16th	37th
JESPERSEN Chris Andre		23rd		4th
LIVERS Toni		28th	27th	12nd	12nd	4th	12nd	12nd	13rd	20th
SEDOV Petr		59th	10th	5th	26th	8th			10th
HARVEY Alex		5th	24th	34th	21st	62nd	34th	43rd	49th
TEICHMANN Axel		47th		37th	44th	5th	74th	33rd	55th	14th
GAUSTAD John Anders							46th	5th
DUVILLARD Robin		33rd		21st			6th
AASEN OUREN Geir Ludvig				45th		31st	35th	6th	18th
GJERDALEN Tord Asle		56th	8th	38th	28th				54th	6th
SOEDERGREN Anders		25th	6th	36th	25th	22nd			19th
FISCHER Remo		6th	21st	18th	15th	16th	11st	10th	26th	42nd
PERL Curdin		45th	7th	14th	17th	21st	39th	40th		35th
FREEMAN Kris		55th	25th	9th	59th	20th	7th	22nd
ROETHE Sjur		36th	20th	7th				18th
BERGER Lars		8th						13rd
BABIKOV Ivan		42nd	16th	54th	8th	10th	26th	28th	37th
MASHKOV Ilya										8th
KERSHAW Devon		37th	13rd	58th		37th	9th	37th	41st	17th
MORIGGL Thomas			26th	43rd	24th	9th
POLTORANIN Alexey		10th		22nd
JOHNSRUD SUNDBY Martin		13rd		10th	33rd		63rd	23rd	22nd

Name		2011 Rybinsk 2011-02-04 20 km M Pursuit	2010 Rybinsk 2010-01-23 30 km M Pursuit	2009 Rybinsk 2009-02-01 30 km M Pursuit	2009 Rybinsk 2009-01-30 15 km F Mst
ZHMURKO Artem		27th	1st
CHERNOUSOV Ilia		1st	2nd		40th
ANGERER Tobias		4th		12nd	1st
COLOGNA Dario				1st	10th
GAILLARD Jean Marc		2nd		4th	2nd
PILLER COTTRER Pietro		9th		2nd	5th
DOLIDOVICH Sergei		28th	7th	24th	3rd
SHIRIAEV Sergey			3rd
TEICHMANN Axel				3rd	14th
MANIFICAT Maurice		3rd
LEGKOV Alexander		7th		7th	4th
SOMMERFELDT Rene			4th	19th	15th
GLAVATSKIKH Konstantin		12nd	5th
DI CENTA Giorgio		5th		8th	7th
JAUHOJAERVI Sami				5th	19th
VITTOZ Vincent		13rd		6th	9th
GJERDALEN Tord Asle				13rd	6th
MORIGGL Thomas		14th	6th
GOERING Franz		6th		28th
MASHKOV Ilya				51st	8th
KUZNETSOV Alexander			8th	35th	31st
CHECCHI Valerio		8th		18th	21st
KERSHAW Devon				9th	17th
TURYCHEV Sergey		17th	9th
HOFER David			10th	17th
HEIKKINEN Matti				10th	13rd
CLARA Roland		10th	16th	15th	12nd

Name		2011 Sjusjoen 2011-11-19 10 km F	2010 La Clusaz 2010-12-18 15 km F Mst	2010 Gällivare 2010-11-20 10 km F	2010 Whistler Olympic Park 2010-02-15 10 km F	2010 Canmore 2010-02-05 10 km F	2009 Davos 2009-12-12 10 km F	2009 Beitostoelen 2009-11-21 10 km F	2009 Lahti 2009-03-08 10 km F	2009 Rybinsk 2009-01-30 10 km F Mst
KHAZOVA Irina		44th			20th	3rd	1st	10th
KALLA Charlotte		2nd	14th	2nd	1st	1st	2nd	2nd	2nd
BJOERGEN Marit		1st	1st	1st	3rd		4th	1st
LONGA Marianna			5th	14th	18th	11st	18th	13rd	11st	1st
KOWALCZYK Justyna		10th	2nd	7th	5th	2nd	9th	12nd	1st	12nd
SMIGUN-VAEHI Kristina					2nd		3rd
FOLLIS Arianna			4th	3rd	11st	10th	19th	8th	5th	2nd
KRISTOFFERSEN Marthe		6th	10th	5th	48th		27th		3rd
BOEHLER Stefanie		57th		49th	23rd		39th	33rd		3rd
SKOFTERUD Vibeke W		3rd	11st	6th	22nd		24th	5th
STEIRA Kristin Stoermer		5th	3rd	4th	8th		6th	4th	8th	6th
HAAG Anna		15th	6th	8th	4th	5th	10th	3rd
MURANEN Pirjo							29th	60th	6th	4th
BERGER Tora		4th
SHEVCHENKO Valentina		17th	12nd	32nd	9th	4th	7th	15th	7th	22nd
MEDVEDEVA Evgenia					7th	17th	8th	11st	4th	10th
ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa		21st	7th	23rd	6th		5th	6th	9th	5th
RUPIL Silvia		19th	9th	24th	14th	6th	17th	34th	32nd
JOHAUG Therese		7th	13rd	9th			28th	17th	10th
KOROSTELEVA Natalia				51st	19th	32nd	21st	7th	20th	24th
GOESSNER Miriam					21st	7th	70th		27th
LAURENT PHILIPPOT Karine					26th	15th	54th	59th	12nd	7th
SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa		27th	34th		15th		11st	9th		8th
NYSTAD Claudia					16th	8th	20th	29th	18th	23rd
RANDALL Kikkan		8th		19th		44th	65th	21st
JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt		12nd	8th	11st			38th	52nd
VALBUSA Sabina					17th	9th	42nd	18th	13rd	9th
FESSEL Nicole		47th		9th		28th			40th	45th
OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad		9th	30th	35th				20th	22nd
MALAHOVA-SHISHKINA Svetlana					10th	12nd	12nd	32nd

Name		2011 Rybinsk 2011-02-04 10 km M Pursuit	2010 Rybinsk 2010-01-23 15 km M Pursuit	2009 Rybinsk 2009-02-01 15 km M Pursuit	2009 Rybinsk 2009-01-30 10 km F Mst
SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa		3rd		1st	8th
KOWALCZYK Justyna		1st	1st	2nd	12nd
LONGA Marianna		2nd		4th	1st
SACHENBACHER -STEHLE Evi		9th	2nd	18th	11st
FOLLIS Arianna		4th		5th	2nd
BOEHLER Stefanie			7th	9th	3rd
KUITUNEN Virpi				3rd	13rd
SCHUCHKINA Olga			3rd	40th	21st
MURANEN Pirjo				10th	4th
TCHEKALEVA Yulia		19th	4th		27th
ROPONEN Riitta-Liisa		5th		11st	5th
KHAZOVA Irina			5th
MEDVEDEVA Evgenia			6th	12nd	10th
NOVIKOVA Valentina		6th	15th		34th
STEIRA Kristin Stoermer				6th	6th
LAURENT PHILIPPOT Karine				14th	7th
MAJDIC Petra				7th	19th
ZELLER Katrin		7th		15th	41st
ROTCHEVA Olga			8th	19th	30th
RUPIL Silvia		8th
SHEVCHENKO Valentina				8th	22nd
VALBUSA Sabina				16th	9th
FESSEL Nicole			9th		45th
SAVIALOVA Olga		10th		23rd	16th
NYSTAD Claudia			10th	13rd	23rd

The Cross-Country World Cup circus is about to make a stop in the Russian capital Moscow on 2nd February. It is not the first time that the elite skiers get together for the World Cup in Moscow, however, as already in 1990 and 2000 the Russian metropolis was on the schedule. But it is the first time that the Sprint World Cup is held around the famous Luzhniki Olympic Stadium, the biggest sports stadium in Russia.

On a 1,5 km long, flat course, about 140 athletes including both sprint World Cup leaders Kikkan Randall (USA) and Alexey Petuhkov (RUS), will race for the top spots. (Text from FIScrosscountry.com)

Looking at the start field, we have most strong sprinters on the start line. Notably missing is Marit Bjørgen in the women’s class – thus Justyna Kowalczyk will get a chance to get an advantage in the overall World Cup with a good race in Moscow. Also Dario Cologna, Petter Northug and Marcus Hellner have chosen not to race the Moscow sprint.

• Set up your XC-predictions by Thursday 11:15 CET here

Men
Among the men, the Russians are big favourites on home ground after excellent performance so far this season, e.g. victory in Toblach and second spot in Rogla free sprints for Nikolay Morilov. Also look out for Swedish Teodor Peterson, the Norwegians with Eirik Brandsdal and Ola Vigen Hattestad as the top favourites.

Women
Among the women, Kikkan Randall has been the dominator on free sprint this season – except for the Rogla sprint where Randall crashed the American has been top 2 in all free sprints this season. Count in Chandra Crawford, Ida Ingemarsdotter and Maiken Caspersen Falla among the top favourites – along with Natalia Matveeva on homeground. It will also be interesting to see if Swiss Van der Graaff can be up there again after a very strong start of the season.

Name		2012 Milano 2012-01-14 SP F Final	2012 Toblach 2012-01-04 SP F Final	2011 Rogla 2011-12-18 SP F Final	2011 Davos 2011-12-11 SP F Final	2011 Duesseldorf 2011-12-03 SP F Final	2011 Oslo 2011-02-24 SP F Final	2011 Drammen 2011-02-20 SP F Final	2011 Rybinsk 2011-02-05 SP F Final	2011 Liberec 2011-01-15 SP F Final	2011 Toblach 2011-01-05 SP F Final
JOENSSON Emil			8th		3rd		3rd	1st
KERSHAW Devon			13rd	15th	4th	18th	31st	48th			1st
MORILOV Nikolay		4th	1st	2nd	6th	34th	8th		5th		13rd
BRANDSDAL Eirik		1st		6th		10th	17th			26th
HATTESTAD Ola Vigen		6th		5th	53rd	1st	4th		2nd	1st
PETUKHOV Alexey		5th	5th	9th	1st	2nd	14th		1st	27th
HARVEY Alex			6th	19th	9th		7th	2nd			14th
PETERSON Teodor		3rd	9th	8th	2nd	5th	16th	33rd		12nd
WENZL Josef		2nd	7th	37th	27th	17th	39th		6th	10th
PELLEGRINO Federico		9th	28th	7th	12nd	6th	12nd	17th	8th	2nd
GLOEERSEN Anders		13rd		3rd	17th	26th	13rd		3rd
PASINI Renato		10th		35th	38th	33rd	30th	11st	15th	4th
PENTSINEN Anssi		22nd		23rd	30th	4th	32nd	47th		37th
JAEGER Martin		18th		28th	31st	11st	11st		4th
JYLHAE Martti		24th		24th	22nd	15th	22nd	5th		34th
STRANDVALL Matias		7th		45th	46th	7th	20th	7th		5th
MODIN Jesper		21st		26th	20th	21st	5th			6th	6th
KUMMEL Peeter		25th	30th	39th	34th	52nd	6th		9th	43rd
PETTERSEN Oeystein		35th		16th	14th	29th	41st		7th
KJOELSTAD Johan				31st	40th	14th		20th	54th	7th
TAMBORNINO Eligius		31st		11st	26th	8th		35th		55th
SIMONLATSER Timo		33rd	35th			40th	47th		12nd	8th	24th
NEWELL Andrew		26th		21st	16th	16th	10th	18th		13rd	8th
FRASNELLI Loris		34th			23rd			8th	25th		17th
KINDSCHI Joeri		29th		33rd	18th	9th	38th		24th	23rd
VALJAS Len		14th		18th	28th	42nd	15th	9th		42nd
NOECKLER Dietmar		48th	10th		43rd
TRITSCHER Bernhard		28th	17th	34th	24th	61st	21st	19th	10th		11st
HAMILTON Simeon		19th		10th	33rd		25th	53rd
VOLOTKA Denis				54th	10th	44th		73rd

Name		2012 Milano 2012-01-14 SP F Final	2012 Toblach 2012-01-04 SP F Final	2011 Rogla 2011-12-18 SP F Final	2011 Davos 2011-12-11 SP F Final	2011 Duesseldorf 2011-12-03 SP F Final	2011 Oslo 2011-02-24 SP F Final	2011 Drammen 2011-02-20 SP F Final	2011 Rybinsk 2011-02-05 SP F Final	2011 Liberec 2011-01-15 SP F Final	2011 Toblach 2011-01-05 SP F Final
FABJAN Vesna		8th	5th	7th	11st	20th	4th	9th	1st	22nd	9th
INGEMARSDOTTER Ida		1st	27th	3rd		48th	12nd	6th
FALLA Maiken Caspersen		3rd		1st	3rd	8th	13rd	2nd		5th
RANDALL Kikkan		2nd	2nd	6th	1st	1st	26th	1st		1st	5th
VISNAR Katja		21st		10th	21st	13rd	21st	21st	2nd	12nd
CRAWFORD Chandra		7th		2nd	9th	4th	28th	14th		26th
MATVEEVA Natalia		4th	23rd	14th	2nd	2nd
BRUN-LIE Celine		29th					14th	7th		3rd
VAN DER GRAAFF Laurien		10th		8th	5th	3rd	40th	41st	21st	21st
KOWALCZYK Justyna			3rd	24th	8th		5th	28th	3rd		22nd
HERRMANN Denise		19th	4th	16th	13rd	37th	23rd	19th	9th	40th	17th
BRODIN Hanna		13rd	41st		4th	5th	10th	33rd		8th
BARTHELEMY Laure			36th	31st	16th	43rd	7th	38th	7th	6th	4th
OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad			7th	4th	24th	10th		12nd			31st
KOROSTELEVA Natalia		26th	14th	5th	18th	24th	32nd	39th	15th
KYLLOENEN Anne		5th	20th	42nd	28th	17th	33rd	43rd		27th	23rd
WENG Heidi		17th	12nd		6th	23rd		47th
SARASOJA-LILJA Riikka		14th	21st	13rd	26th	6th
EIDE Mari		6th			56th	12nd		29th		10th
MALVALEHTO Mona-Lisa		11st		21st	17th	7th
KOLB Hanna			8th	15th	14th	11st	59th	32nd		17th
DOTSENKO Anastasia			16th	37th	22nd	36th	30th	17th	8th
GAIAZOVA Daria		25th		9th	30th	46th	20th	20th		14th
ERIKSSON Mia		16th			57th	9th				30th
SOEMSKAR Linn		9th		35th	36th	26th
JEAN Aurore		20th	9th	23rd		40th	31st	59th	18th		27th
JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt			17th	26th	10th		9th	13rd			21st
LAHTEENMAKI Krista			13rd	19th	20th		16th	10th			14th