The city of Dresden, Germany, has hosted World Cup city sprints for the last five seasons. The first was in 2017/18 season, the last was just this weekend. 

Among the men, Federico Pellegrino has won twice: in 2018 and 2021. Sindre Bjørnestad Skar won in 2019, Lucas Chavanat in 2020, and Håvard Solås Taugbøl won the last one. On the women’s side, Hanna Falk won the first, then Stina Nilsson in 2019, Linn Svahn in 2020, Nadine Fändrich in 2021, and Maja Dahlqvist last Saturday. 

It is no secret that not everyone loved the city sprints in Dresden, and that they have been controversial. Previously, environmentalists have blocked the arena, arguing that the city ski races are not sustainable. 

But the FIS are eager to bring cross-country skiing events into urban settings with the intent to excite and attract new audiences.  

When Dresden agreed to organize the city center World Cup sprint races, they signed a 5-year contract with the FIS. That contract is now up, and Dresden is no longer on the World Cup schedule. 

“We knew there would be only five races when we signed the contract, but when the fifth competition is over, we as organizers are sorry,” says Dresden World Cup press officer Daniela Möckel to Expressen. 

She hopes the FIS will consider bringing the World Cup back to Dresden. 

“We know we won’t have a World Cup next season, but we hope to be back on the schedule later,” she says. 

Earlier, other cities have hosted World Cup sprints, including Düsseldorf, Germany, and Stockholm, Sweden.