A fierce battle between Team Engcon, Team Aker Dæhlie, and Team Ramudden ended up in a win for the Swedish Pro Team Engcon. 

The Ski Classics Season XIV had its first race today, the Bad Gastein Pro Team Tempo, offering emotions and strong performances by the 35 Pro teams present at the event.

The Pro Team Tempo race in Austria was organized as an interval start competition with block starts. With Pro Teams starting once at a time in reversed order according to the Pro Team ranking of last season, with the top teams spread out in the starting field. 

The gap between the blocks was 4 minutes, and the women athletes started 30 seconds after the men Pro Team athletes. The finishing time of the team’s 2nd ranked man and the 2nd ranked woman counted for the classification. This means it was crucial for the athletes to work together and help each other to reach the best overall time.

The Pro Teams Team Engcon, Team Aker Dæhlie, and Team Ramudden showed their early season form throughout the entire race.

In the men’s field, with the best time, considering the time of the 2nd ranked man, Alvar Myhlback and Nils Dahlsten, from Lager 157 Ski Team, were the fastest with a time of 28:07.4. 

Team Ramudden followed closely, with Amund Riege and Johannes Eklöf, with a time of 28:19.1, and in the third position, 19.9 seconds from the leaders, Team Aker Dæhlie, with Max Novak and Petter Stakston. 

In the women’s side, also considering the 2nd ranked woman, Team Engcon with Ida Dahl and Linn Sömskar, crushed the competition and finished with a time of 32:38.0, one minute ahead of Silje Øyre Slind and Guro Jordheim, from Team Aker Dæhlie.

In the third position, Magni Smedås and Sofie Elebro finished 1:05.7 behind the leaders, with a total time of 33:43.7.

In the end, considering the finishing time of the team’s 2nd ranked man and the 2nd ranked woman, Team Engcon finished in the first position with a total time of 1:01:54.8. 

In the second place, in a fierce dispute, came Team Aker Dæhlie, just 10.7 seconds behind. Team Ramudden completed the race in third place, 25 seconds behind the winners. 

Top 3 Pro Teams in the Bad Gastein Pro Team Tempo

• Team Engcon, 1:01:54.8
  • (Torgeir Sulen Hovland, Eddie Edström, Anton Elvseth, Ida Dahl, Linn Sömskar, Frida Hallquist)

• Team Aker Dæhlie, +10.7 
  • (Max Novak, Petter Stakston, Stian Hoelgaard, Chris Andre Jespersen,Vebjørn Moen, Silje Øyre Slind, Guro Jordheim)

• Team Ramudden, +25.0
  • (Amund Riege, Johannes Eklöf, Herman Paus, Alfred Buskqvist, Lina Korsgren, Ida Palmberg)

Results Here

Tomorrow, the Ski Classics Season XIV continues with the 35km Bad Gastein Criterium. The women’s race starts at 9:15 CET, followed by the men’s at 11:00 CET.

BAD GASTEIN CRITERIUM 

The Sunday Bad Gastein Criterium is a mass-start race to be completed in several laps and a challenging course. The Sprint and Climb competitions start here with several chances to collect valuable points for the season.

For the Champion competition, the standard points will apply. For the Sprint and Climb competitions, skiers will get 50% of the standard points.

BAD GASTEIN CRITERIUM – MAP

BAD GASTEIN CRITERIUM – FACTS

• Location: Bad Gastein, Austria
• Date: Sunday, December 11, 2022
• Start Time: Women 9:15 CET / Men 11:00 CET
• Distance: 35km Classic Technique
• Number of SC Sprints: 2
• Sprint 1: 6.1km
• Sprint 2: 12.5km
• Number of SC Climbs: 2
• Climb 1: 19.2km
• Climb 2: 26.3km
• Total Climbing: 412m

Bad Gastein Criterium program, start lists, and live streaming on SC Play can be found here.

The Season XIV of Ski Classics Pro Tour consists of 14 events on 10 event weekends in 6 different countries. 

Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XIV (2022/2023)

• Event 1: December 10, 2022 – Bad Gastein PTT, Bad Gastein, Austria, 13km
• Event 2: December 11, 2022 – Bad Gastein Criterium, Bad Gastein, Austria, 33km
• Event 3: December 17, 2022 – La Venosta Criterium, Val Venosta, Italy, 40km 
• Event 4: January 14, 2023 – Pustertaler Ski Marathon, Sexten, Italy, 62km
• Event 5: January 15, 2023 – Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge, Niederdorf, Italy, 30km
• Event 6: January 21, 2023 – Engadin La Diagonela, Engadin Valley, Switzerland, 55km 
• Event 7: January 29, 2023 – Marcialonga, Trentino, Italy, 70km
• Event 8: February 12, 2023 – Jizerská50, Bedrichov, Czech Republic, 50km
• Event 9: February 18, 2023 – Grönklitt Criterium, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 50km
• Event 10: February 19, 2023 – Grönklitt ITT, Orsa Grönklitt, Sweden, 15km
• Event 11: March 5, 2023 – Vasaloppet, Sälen-Mora, Sweden, 90km
• Event 12: March 18, 2023 – Birkebeinerrennet, Rena-Lillehammer, Norway, 54km
• Event 13: April 1, 2023 – Reistadløpet, Setermoen-Bardufoss, Norway, 40km
• Event 14: April 2, 2023 – Summit 2 Senja, Bardufoss- Finnsnes, Norway, 67km

More info about the Ski Classics Pro Tour you can find at skiclassics.com.

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