Lahti World Cup – Women’s 20km Mass Start Classic – Preview

On Sunday, March 26, 2023, the women’s 20km classic style race will take place in Lahti. This is the third 20km classic style event of the season, with the previous one being held in 1987.

Sweden’s Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson are the women with the most individual World Cup wins this season, alongside Kristine Stavås Skistad. Both Karlsson and Andersson have won two classic style distance events this season, with Karlsson winning in Lillehammer on December 4 and Andersson winning in Les Rousses on January 29.

Andersson has won each of the last three women’s individual distance events she has started in, making her the first Swedish woman to achieve this. She has also won five of the last six individual distance events she has competed in at the World Cup and world championships. The only exception was a third-place finish in the 10km freestyle at the World Championships.

Marie Risby is the only Swedish woman to have won an individual distance event in the World Cup Lahti, winning the 5km classic style in 1985. Andersson’s best result in an individual distance World Cup event in Lahti is a second place in the 10km classic style in February 2020, while Karlsson finished fourth in that race, which was her best result in Lahti.

In 2019, Karlsson won two junior world titles in Lahti: the 5km freestyle and 15km classic style. Meanwhile, Rosie Brennan is in fourth place in the distance standings this season. However, none of her seven individual World Cup podiums have come in classic style distance events, with two fourth places.

Only one non-European woman has ever won a classic style distance event in the World Cup. Canada’s Beckie Scott won the 15km classic style in Canmore on December 17, 2005. Heidi Weng has 105 podium finishes in individual World Cup events, making her the fourth-most successful skier in this regard, behind Marit Bjørgen (186), Therese Johaug (149), and Justyna Kowalczyk (106).

Weng has claimed 14 individual podium finishes in Finland without ever winning. This marks the joint-most individual podiums in the World Cup in a host country without claiming a win, alongside her own tally of 14 on Swedish soil.

Sunday, March 26: 20km Mass Start C (Find more details here)

• 11:00 CET: 20km Mass Start C, Women
• 12:45 CET: 20km Mass Start C, Men 

START LIST WOMEN

See below the complete program with facts, start lists, and results for the World Cup in Lahti.

FACTS Lahti World Cup Season 2022/2023

• When: Friday, March 24, to Sunday, March 26
• Who: Elite national skiers
• Where: Lahti, Finland
• What: FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Lahti, Finland

PROGRAM

Friday, March 24: Team Sprint F (Find more details here)

• 14:20 CET: Team Sprint F, Women
• 14:40 CET: Team Sprint F, Men
• 15:50 CET: Team Sprint Final, Men
• 15:50 CET: Team Sprint Final, Women 

Saturday, March 25: Sprint C (Find more details here)

• 10:30 CET: Sprint Quali C, Men
• 10:30 CET: Sprint Quali C, Women 
• 13:00 CET: Sprint Final C, Men
• 13:00 CET: Sprint Final C, Women

Sunday, March 26: 20km Mass Start C (Find more details here)

• 11:00 CET: 20km Mass Start C, Women
• 12:45 CET: 20km Mass Start C, Men 

New this season was the exact race distances for women and men in all World Cup events, as the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) decided in May. Several other changes have also been introduced to the World Cup.

Read More: Cross-Country Skiing Changes And World Cup Calendar For The 2022/2023 Season

Also Read: New Distances At The Cross-Country Skiing World Cup