The new 5km heat event, which no one asked for but everyone is talking about, becomes a reality during Toppidrettsveka 2025 in Trondheim, Norway. Will it be a public celebration or a total flop?

At its spring meeting in May, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) announced the introduction of a new format to the World Cup for the 2025/2026 season: a 5-kilometer mass start in heats.

The format has been heavily criticized by both athletes and experts, but is scheduled to be part of the Tour de Ski and will be held in Toblach on New Year’s Eve.

Read More: FIS scraps relays – Introduces brand new format in the World Cup

Details about the 5km in heats format can be found further down in the article.

Dress rehearsal in Trondheim in August

Now, however, the athletes will have a golden opportunity to test out the controversial format as early as August. This year, a 4-kilometer freestyle race in heats will be one of the events during Toppidrettsveka 2025. The race will take place in downtown Trondheim on Sunday, August 24.

The three-day roller ski festival, which annually attracts a large part of the world’s elite to Trøndelag, will be held this year from August 22 to 24.

This is how Toppidrettsveka 2025 looks

Toppidrettsveka will once again open with a long-distance race on the island of Hitra. The 53-kilometer classic race takes place on Friday, August 22, with start times at 17:40 for men and 18:10 for women.

On Saturday, August 23, a freestyle sprint will take place in Hitra. The prologue starts at 17:40, with the final heats beginning at 19:20.

Sunday, August 24, concludes with a 4-kilometer freestyle race in heats at 11:00 in downtown Trondheim, followed by a 10-kilometer classic pursuit at 15:30. The first skier across the finish line in the pursuit wins the overall Toppidrettsveka 2025.

TOPPIDRETTSVEKA 2025 PROGRAM

Friday, August 22: Long-distance race on Hitra

• 17:40 – 53km classic, men
• 18:10 – 53km classic, women

Saturday, August 23: Sprint in Hitra

• 17:40 – Freestyle sprint prologue, women and men
• 19:20 – Freestyle sprint finals, women and men

Sunday, August 24: Heat races and pursuit in Trondheim

• 11:00 – 4km freestyle in heats, women and men
• 15:30 – 10km classic pursuit, women and men

This is the concept behind the new heat-based distance format

Some details are still to be finalized, but the main structure for the new 5km heat event is as follows:

Athletes will be divided into heats of 20 to 25 skiers each. Heat assignments are based on World Cup rankings, with a maximum of three skiers from the same nation in any given heat. The exact number of heats depends on the number of athletes participating, but a typical World Cup event typically has between four and six heats.

The total race time from start to finish determines the final results. So if a skier finishes 10th in heat four but has the 10th fastest time overall, that skier places 10th in the race. Tactics, therefore, will play little to no role; winning a heat just means being the fastest among those starting at the same time, but doesn’t necessarily translate into World Cup points.

In the men’s class, heats will start every 15 or 16 minutes; in the women’s class, every 17 or 18 minutes.

Also Read: FIS explores new race formats – Not everyone’s convinced

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