Among the 17 skiers named to the Norwegian Tour de Ski team are several outsiders in the battle for the tickets to China in February.

Norway has named an impressive team to the upcoming Tour de Ski stage race, including both A-team racers and athletes outside the national team. 

Norway can field up to ten men and ten women for the Tour de Ski.  As of December 15, the team consists of nine men and eight women. 

After the World Cup in Dresden on December 18 and 19, the Norwegian Ski Association will name one additional male skier to the Tour de Ski team.

The Tour de Ski takes place from December 28, 2021 to January 4, 2022. The stage race starts in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, and concludes in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

Fierce battle for the tickets to China
On the men’s side the Tour de Ski team includes several skiers who are using the stage race as an opportunity to qualify for one of the eight spots on team to the 2022 Olympics in February. 

Among them is Didrik Tønseth, who is not a part of the Norwegian national team this season. Tønseth has delivered several strong results both nationally and at the World Cup in Lillehammer, and is the leader of the continental cup (Scandinavian Cup/COC). Thus, Tønseth is certainly one to keep an eye on in this season’s brutal six-stage Tour de Ski. 

The same is true for Emil Iversen. While Tour de Ski was not a part of his original race schedule as Iversen had hoped to be ready for the Olympics at this point, the 29-year-old has failed to impress in some of the key events this season. Iversen announced earlier this week that he will race Tour de Ski after all, hoping to qualify for the Olympics that way.

These are the racers named to the men’s team:
Harald Østberg Amundsen 
Pål Golberg
Emil Iversen
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo
Simen Hegstad Krüger
Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget
Sjur Røthe
Didrik Tønseth
Erik Valnes

Outsiders to threaten the establishment
On the women’s side, there are eight racers named to the Tour de Ski line-up. Several of them have a lot to prove in the upcoming stage race. 

Ragnhild Haga, who like Tønseth was dropped from the A-team prior to this season, has delivered several strong performances in the early races. With some decent results in the Tour de Ski as well, Haga is looking at one of the eight tickets to China in February. Haga took home two gold medals from the 2018 Olympics in Pyeong Chang, South Korea. 

A-team racer Anne Kjersti Kalvå is in Iversen’s shoes: Based on her race results so far this season, Kalvå needs to impress in the upcoming stage race in order to have a shot at one of the eight spots on the Olympic team.  

Comeback kid Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, who was just cleared to return to racing after two seasons of health issues, has showed a promising trend in the events she has raced this fall. A few more steps in the right direction might just earn her a spot on the team to the 2022 Olympics. 

And finally, up-and-coming talent Silje Theodorsen has certainly pulled off some results that make her a real threat to some of the established A-team racers. The 27-year-old regional team racer from the north of Norway is also the leader of the continental cup (Scandinavian Cup/COC). 

These are the eight women named to the Tour de Ski team
Helene Marie Fossesholm
Ragnhild Haga
Anne Kjersti Kalvå
Silje Theodorsen
Heidi Weng
Tiril Udnes Weng
Lotta Udnes Weng
Ingvild Flugstad Østberg