PHOTO: Bildbyrån
TV viewers abandon cross-country skiing. And even the riders have learned about parts of the sport.
Several Swedish stars want to remake the Tour de Ski properly.
– It’s a pretty crappy tour, unfortunately, says Calle Halfvarsson.
Cross-country skiing has lost almost half of its television viewers in recent years, NRK reports. The Norwegian television company refers to an annual compilation that the media analysis company Nielsen has made on behalf of the International Skiing and Snowboarding Federation.
Six seasons ago, in 2017–18, the World Cup competitions were watched by a total of 1.16 billion viewers. Last season, the figure was down to 690 million.
Russia’s absence due to Vladimir Putin’s war of invasion in Ukraine is singled out as a reason, and Russian viewers are no longer included in the calculation. That the broadcasts changed channels in several countries – in Sweden from SVT to Viaplay – is mentioned as another.
The future of the tour is threatened
Of course, this cannot be remedied in the blink of an eye. But there are ways to increase the attractiveness both for viewers and practitioners, the Swedish national team skaters believe.
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Among other things, the Tour de Ski, whose 18th edition ended this weekend, should be redone, says Calle Halfvarsson.
– It’s a pretty crappy tour, unfortunately. We can handle more than this, I am completely convinced of that, says Halfvarsson.
Despite the fact that he entered this year’s tour clearly affected by a recent bout of covid-19, he does not feel that the competitions have taken a toll on him. Therefore, he would like to see a greater challenge in the coming seasons. Otherwise, there is no future for the Tour de Ski, says the 34-year-old veteran.
– Not if you are going to continue as you are now. Then I think you drag it down, and make the tour more and more boring. Then you have no future in it. I think you have to push it hard.
“No monster scheme”
He wants to see a longer tour with more stages, and gets the nod William Poromaa.
– I had thought it would have been more fun with more competitions and tougher than it is now. I absolutely thought so, says Poromaa.
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Lynn Svahn like the tour as a concept. But neither does she feel that the event is such a showdown as it is sometimes portrayed as.
– The tour is not that tough. We compete three days, we rest one day, we compete two days, we rest one day and compete two days. It’s not a monster setup.
Svahn won three of seven stages in this year’s Tour de Ski, but was still no better than sixth overall. There are things to screw up, she says.
– For my own part, I would have liked it if the victories had meant more. Now it is perhaps an advantage to be very stable, it does not matter so much if you are number one or number six. I like the tour, but I think we can develop it. But I don’t want it to disappear.
Missing an element
Frida Karlsson is Sweden’s latest winner of the Tour de Ski. Last year’s winner also sees parts that can be adjusted, and has a concrete example:
– There is potential for improvement. For example, if you advance in a sprint, if you go to the quarters and are eliminated there. Then you have earned a maximum of ten seconds on those who went out in the qualifiers. But then you’ve stayed for another three hours and warmed up once more. It’s almost as if you didn’t want to move on then, says Karlsson.
Most of the Swedish riders also want the tour to reintroduce an old concept. Until 2020, the final stage, the climb up Alpe Cermis, was run as a chase start where whoever was first up also won the tour.
Calle Halfvarsson thinks it would be strange if the International Skiing and Snowboarding Federation (FIS) does not switch back from the current mass start.
– I hope that Fis can listen to the active, to the media and everyone. Everyone wants the hunting start back, right? If they can’t listen to it and take it in, I’ll be very surprised. Then it’s the wrong people who work there, says Halfvarsson.
What do you think of the layout of the Tour de Ski? Share the article and have your say!
READ MORE: Frida Karlsson’s big disappointment after the Tour de Ski – now gives notice for the rest of the season: “Not there”
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