The World Championships in Val di Fiemme starts with an exciting classic technique Sprint race on Thursday. Only 5 days before this big day in Val di Fiemme, the skiers had their last test in exactly this discipline in the Davos World Cup races. Can the clear Davos winners Alexey Poltoranin and Justyna Kowalczyk repeat their feats from Davos?

• Set up your XC-predictions for the Sprint classis technique by the start of the Qualifications at 10:45 CET

Men: Northug and Poltoranin against the sprint specialists

Emil Jönsson, Teodor Peterson and Eirik Brandsdal were named three of the biggest favourites ahead of the Davos sprint race – and even if none of them performed well in Davos (27th, 11th and 9th, respectively), they are still among the biggest favourites for the World Championships sprint. Last Saturday’s winner – allrounder Alexey Polotoranin – has shown very good shape lately, and will be a man to look out for. However, winning two sprints in a row is not done often in the World Cup.

The strong Norwegian allrounder is going for gold every time he is on the start line in Val di Fiemme – the classic sprint is no exception

Mental strength and peaking the shape is extremely important when it comes down to the big championships – and this is where Petter Northug excels. The strong Norwegian allrounder is going for gold every time he is on the start line in Val di Fiemme – the classic sprint is no exception. Not his strongest distance – but with a bronze from the Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 and a second place in the season opening in Kuusamo in classic sprint, the biggest star of cross country skiing is surely among the top favourites also in the sprint. Another man for the big occasions is the Olympic Champion from the classic sprint in Vancouver – Nikita Kriukov. The Russian has had a variable sprint season, but showed great shape in Kuusamo in November where he won the classic sprint.

Italian medal?

The last of the favourites to be mentioned is home favourite Federico Pellegrino – peaking his shape for the World Championships with a third place in Davos after being far away from the top positions in classic sprints for some time. Finally some outsiders: Andy Newell (5th already back in the World Championships sprint in Sapporo in 2007  - one place higher in Davos on Saturday), Len Valjas, Nikolay Chebotko, Tim Scharnke and Ola Vigen Hattestad.

Dario Cologna would also have been among the favourites, but the Swiss skier is not starting in the Val di Fiemme sprint race – focusing on the Skiathlon on Saturday. Marcus Hellner – reigning World Champion in sprint from Oslo – is also not on the start list. However, the Oslo sprint was in free technique – a discipline which the Swede is much more comfortable with than classic.

Women: Classic Bjørgen – Kowalczyk battle

Bjørgen won the Olympic classic technique sprint in Vancouver in 2010 ahead of Kowalczyk – and has the series 2 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 2 in the last six classic technique sprint races

In the womens sprint we are yet again ready for the battle between Marit Bjørgen and Justyna Kowalczyk.

- My goal is to get to the final, and if I manage that, everything is possible. I am not fast enough for these sprints, Bjørgen says ahead of the sprint and puts herself in an outsider position. However, looking at the latest results – this will most probably be a battle between the two big stars of women’s cross country skiing the last year. Bjørgen won the Olympic classic technique sprint in Vancouver in 2010 ahead of Kowalczyk – and has the series 2 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 1 – 2 in the last six classic technique sprint races she has started. Her Polish opponent does not have the same impressive stability – but with an impressive victory in the classic technique sprint in Davos on Saturday – and an exceptional classic shape this season – Kowalczyk still counts as a favourite ahead of Bjørgen.

If Bjørgen and Kowalczyk fail – Maiken Caspersen Falla (one of the most stable Top 3 sprinters in the World Cup), Anne Kyllönen (Finnish skier who has improved a lot this year), Astrid Jakobsen (the surprise winner from the Sapporo sprint in 2007), Mona-Lisa Malvalehto (surprise winner from the Liberec sprint in January) are there to take over. Also look out for the outsiders Kikkan Randall, Jean Aurore, Katja Visnar and Celine Brun-Lie.

As a preview for the World Champs sprint classic, you find historical results from relevant races below. Note that this article was written before the official start lists where available.

Photo: Marit Bjørgen (NOR)  ; Photo by Federico Modica

Men all – historical results

Name		2013 Davos 2013-02-16 SP C Final	2013 Liberec 2013-01-12 SP C Final	2012 Kuusamo 2012-11-30 SP C Final	2012 Stockholm 2012-03-14 SP C Final	2012 Drammen 2012-03-07 SP C Final	2012 Lahti 2012-03-04 SP C Final	2012 Otepaa 2012-01-21 SP C Final	2010 Whistler Olympic Park 2010-02-17 SP 1.5 km C Final	2007 Sapporo 2007-02-22 SP C Final
PETERSON Teodor		27th	1st	8th	2nd	9th	2nd	26th	11th
BRANDSDAL Eirik		9th	4th	3rd	1st	1st	16th	3rd
JOENSSON Emil		11th	2nd	9th	12th	5th	1st		7th	6th
POLTORANIN Alexey		1st		5th	5th			19th	5th
COLOGNA Dario		2nd		35th	13th	19th	46th	1st
KRIUKOV Nikita			7th	1st	26th	13th	3rd	5th	1st
VALJAS Len		6th	10th	53rd	3rd	2nd	19th	21st
GOLBERG Paal			3rd	13th	22nd	3rd	28th	8th
HATTESTAD Ola Vigen			8th		4th	38th	4th	2nd	4th
NORTHUG Petter jr.				2nd					3rd
PELLEGRINO Federico		3rd	40th		20th	31st	20th
NEWELL Andrew		4th	6th	27th	7th	6th	15th	7th	45th	5th
PANZHINSKIY Alexander			9th			4th	21st	12th	2nd
RETIVYKH Gleb		19th	27th	11th	9th	10th	6th	9th
CHEBOTKO Nikolay		5th		12th					13th	19th
TSCHARNKE Tim			5th	47th	31st		43rd		33rd
MORILOV Nikolay		18th		18th	6th	8th	8th	28th	26th	20th
HARVEY Alex		39th		46th	14th	16th	44th	4th
JAPAROV Dmitriy		15th		4th	30th
JAUHOJAERVI Sami		34th		10th		20th	5th	24th	12th
LASSILA Kalle			18th	6th		39th	25th	10th	10th	11th
HAMILTON Simeon		13th	41st	24th		7th	11th	33rd	29th
ONDA Yuichi		7th				15th	33rd		17th	25th
KERSHAW Devon		8th		62nd	19th	23rd	51st	40th	23rd	38th
PENTSINEN Anssi			11th	29th		14th	22nd	27th
CLAUSEN Kent Ove		10th				11th	26th	53rd
ERIKSSON Jens		17th	15th	26th			41st	16th
GAFAROV Anton		26th	14th			27th	36th	11th
PETUKHOV Alexey			28th	7th	16th	22nd	48th	25th
WENZL Josef		51st	24th	22nd	21st	12th		22nd	31st	14th
KETELAE Toni			20th	14th		26th	14th
USACHEV Igor		12th					31st	14th
PETTERSEN Oeystein		30th	67th	30th		54th	34th	6th	6th
WOLZ Alexander		14th	22nd
STRANDVALL Matias			21st	16th	27th	21st	27th	38th	37th	9th
ROENNING Eldar			19th	21st	17th					3rd
PASINI Fabio			39th	50th	15th	34th	7th		24th
HALFVARSSON Calle		23rd		15th	42nd	29th	23rd	23rd
EISENLAUER Sebastian		28th	13th
DAHL John Kristian				17th	8th	53rd	35th
DEVJATIAROV Mikhail Jun.			12th
SELLIS Siim				19th		60th	10th	43rd
EDIN Johan			26th			28th	13th	29th
LECCARDI Valerio		16th					60th	31st	38th
KOSHEVOY Yevgeniy		47th	16th
PERSSON Simon			51st			62nd	9th
RAZYM Ales			17th	43rd					44th
HELLNER Marcus				70th	10th		59th
KUMMEL Peeter			46th	28th				13th	14th
MIYAZAWA Hiroyuki		67th		36th	11th
GLOEERSEN Anders			43rd		24th	50th	45th	15th
HEUN Daniel		20th	32nd					58th
BRYNTESSON Robin			56th				12th	34th
MODIN Jesper						31st	24th	18th	18th
PAAKKONEN Lasse						24th	17th	42nd
SVARTEDAL Jens Arne										1st
FOSSLI Sondre Turvoll		21st				37th
MIRANDA Cyril		22nd	42nd	34th		47th	40th		16th	12th
EINASTE Kein			35th			25th	49th	20th	59th
KJOELSTAD Johan								17th	9th
SCHNIDER Ueli		50th	23rd
LYKKJA Hans Petter						17th	30th
HEDIGER Jovian		24th	34th					47th
STEEN Andreas Myran						18th
ROETHE Sjur				67th	18th
NORUM Robin						44th	18th
GOERING Franz			25th			69th	66th
BYGGLAND Aanund Lid		25th				36th
SAAREPUU Anti			36th	20th		30th	42nd	52nd	42nd
LARSSON Mats										2nd
SUN Qinghai				23rd			64th		21st	48th
POLTARANIN Alexey									5th	17th
HAEKAEMIES Antti				25th			29th
TURYSHEV Sergey				61st	23rd
DYRHAUG Niklas				111th	25th
DEVJATIAROV Mickail Jun.									8th	15th
LIND Bjoern									19th	4th
KUHN Stefan									15th	39th
PASINI Renato		36th	50th			49th			20th
VAEAENAENEN Jesse							63rd		22nd
KREZELOK Janusz									28th	10th
HJELMESET Odd-Bjoern										7th
KRECZMER Maciej		70th	38th	65th		58th	38th	45th	25th	28th
ROTCHEV Vassili										8th
SIMONLATSER Timo			45th			33rd	47th	39th	27th	24th
KOSCHEVOY Yevgeniy									52nd	12th
PYYKOENEN Lauri										13th
KOZISEK Dusan		57th	57th	75th					35th	16th
HETLAND Tor Arne										18th
FRASNELLI Loris						46th	68th		30th	23rd
KOOS Torin									36th	21st
MYHLBACK Petter										22nd

Women all – historical results

Name		2013 Davos 2013-02-16 SP C Final	2013 Liberec 2013-01-12 SP C Final	2012 Kuusamo 2012-11-30 SP C Final	2012 Stockholm 2012-03-14 SP C Final	2012 Drammen 2012-03-07 SP C Final	2012 Lahti 2012-03-04 SP C Final	2012 Otepaa 2012-01-21 SP C Final	2010 Whistler Olympic Park 2010-02-17 SP 1.5 km C Final	2007 Sapporo 2007-02-22 SP C Final
BJOERGEN Marit		2nd		1st	1st	1st	1st	2nd	1st	10th
KOWALCZYK Justyna		1st	2nd	7th	9th	3rd	3rd	1st	2nd	17th
MALVALEHTO Mona-Lisa			1st	11th	13th	9th	22nd	6th		12th
IVANOVA Julia		7th		31st	2nd		2nd
FALLA Maiken Caspersen		21st	3rd		3rd	4th	4th	12th	20th
KYLLOENEN Anne		3rd		4th	11th	7th	8th	15th
SHAPOVALOVA Evgenia			13th	2nd		20th	27th	26th	28th	19th
JACOBSEN Astrid Uhrenholdt				30th	42nd	2nd		21st	7th	1st
DOTSENKO Anastasia		16th		3rd	16th	14th	6th
GAIAZOVA Daria		12th	4th	14th	23rd	8th	13th	17th	22nd	52nd
SMUTNA Katerina		5th	20th	17th	6th	31st	24th	5th	11th	11th
MATVEEVA Natalia			12th			28th	7th	3rd		23rd
JEAN Aurore		4th	37th	44th	26th	6th	21st
RANDALL Kikkan		8th		10th	8th	11th	5th	9th	8th	22nd
BRUN-LIE Celine		13th	5th	8th		41st			6th
VISNAR Katja		24th	21st	6th	5th	13th	11th	10th	16th	38th
INGEMARSDOTTER Ida		6th	10th		10th	22nd	39th	8th	15th	8th
KALLA Charlotte		17th			4th	12th	9th	18th
OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad		30th	6th	23rd	20th	21st	15th	7th
LAHTEENMAKI Krista		11th		5th	21st	18th		13th
SAARINEN Aino- Kaisa		50th	17th	16th	22nd		26th	4th	13th	18th
NISKANEN Kerttu		9th	14th	25th				11th
CRAWFORD Chandra			29th	37th	12th	5th	69th	22nd	26th	32nd
KOLB Hanna		15th	8th	26th	33rd	19th	47th		25th
PAJALA Magdalena		20th	7th	20th				31st	10th
FESSEL Nicole			33rd	22nd	14th	10th	12th	19th	17th	15th
WENG Heidi		19th		13th	18th	15th	23rd
FABJAN Vesna		22nd	39th	19th	7th	32nd	17th	33rd	23rd	37th
JONES Perianne		41st	9th	12th		61st	58th	39th	41st
NILSSON Stina		10th	26th			23rd
HERRMANN Denise		14th		15th	25th	24th	29th	41st
GJEITNES Kari Vikhagen			15th			45th	10th
BRODIN Hanna					17th	17th	19th	14th
SARGENT Ida		18th	42nd	9th		46th	52nd	29th
SOEMSKAR Linn			11th	41st		26th	51st	28th
VAN DER GRAAFF Laurien		29th	16th		15th	29th		38th
GROENVOLL Maria Nysted			18th			36th	20th
MAJDIC Petra									3rd	2nd
USATOVA Oxana		25th	25th			50th		23rd
SUNDIN Marika			19th
EIDE Mari			27th			16th
MEDVEDEVA Polina				18th	24th	34th
NIKOLAEVA Svetlana		28th	24th
PROCHAZKOVA Alena		37th	31st	21st		40th	36th	24th	18th	13th
JOHAUG Therese				24th	32nd		42nd	20th
ISHIDA Masako				42nd	34th		14th
RINGWALD Sandra			22nd
BROOKS Holly		23rd		40th			54th		38th
JOHANSSON NORGREN Britta			23rd
TRACHSEL Doris		43rd	36th	45th		55th	46th	16th	30th
NOVIKOVA Valentina						38th	16th	42nd
SARASOJA-LILJA Riikka		31st		29th	49th		18th
ZELLER Katrin				48th	19th	37th	43rd	36th	14th
OLSSON Anna									4th
KOROSTELEVA Natalia			54th	28th	35th	30th	28th		12th	27th
GENUIN Magda									5th	28th
KUITUNEN Virpi									9th	3rd
OJASTE Triin				58th		48th	33rd	25th	37th
ROTCHEVA Olga						35th	25th		40th
BOE Kjersti						25th
DAHLBERG Anna										4th
NATSUMI Madoka									27th	5th
PERAELAE Kirsi									19th
MURANEN Pirjo									21st
ANDERSSON Lina										6th
MANNINEN Pirjo										7th
CUINET Aurore									24th
HENKEL Manuela										9th
MISCHOL Seraina										14th
BAUER Viola										16th
FUKUDA Nobuko										20th
GJOEMLE Ella										21st
VALAAS Laura										24th
ROCHAT Laurence										25th