When FIS released the 2025/2026 cross-country skiing World Cup calendar, two things stood out: First, there are no relays. Second, a new event with an entirely new format has been introduced.

During the Spring meeting in Portugal, the cross-country committee of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation – FIS finalized the calendar for the 2025/2026 cross-country skiing World Cup.

Two things stand out: There are no regular relay events on the schedule, and there’s a completely new event with a brand-new format – a 5-kilometer mass start in heats.

Also Read: FIS unveils 2025/2026 cross-country skiing World Cup calendar

This is the setup for the World Cup

The 2025/2026 cross-country skiing World Cup consists of 29 races across nine different formats:

• 11 sprints (six skate, five classic)
• 7 individual start races (four classic, three skate)
• 3 mass starts (two classic, one skate)
• 2 skiathlons
• 2 team sprints (both in skate)
• 1 uphill mass start (Monster Hill, Alpe Cermis in the Tour de Ski)
• 1 50km (skate, in Holmenkollen)
• 1 15km pursuit (classic)
• 1 5km mass start in heats – NEW EVENT

No dress rehearsal before the Olympics

The removal of relays by FIS means that the Olympic relay will be the only relay event this coming winter. FIS has not made room for what many athletes and fans consider the most exciting and emotionally charged event. Only team sprint (paired relay) remains on the World Cup program for 2025/2026. This leaves no opportunity for coaches or athletes to test different lineups ahead of the Olympic relay.

Comparison with biathlon

Biathlon features only seven formats in its World Cup: sprint, pursuit, individual/short individual, mass start, mixed relay, single mixed relay, and relay. Among these, only one event – single mixed relay – is not included in the Olympics.

New format debuts: 5km mass start in heats

However, a completely new format is set to debut in cross-country skiing next season: 5 kilometers with mass start in heats.

Four non-Olympic events favor sprinting

According to Langrenn.com, it’s also notable that the calendar includes four events not featured in the Olympics, meaning that 20.6% of all World Cup races are non-Olympic disciplines. In contrast, in biathlon, that number is under 10% (since only the single mixed relay is excluded from the Olympics).

Almost 40% of all cross-country World Cup races are sprints (37.9%), more than one-third of the total. In biathlon, sprints make up 21.8% of competitions.

All decisions made by the technical committees must be formally approved at the FIS Congress in June. But as it stands now, there will be no relays in the 2025/2026 cross-country skiing World Cup.

Are you interested in traditional cross-country skiing? Click HERE and read more about it.