A fierce fight between Team Engcon, Team Eksjöhus, Team Aker Dæhlie, and Team Ramudden ended up in another Pro Team Tempo win for the Swedish Pro Team Engcon at the Bad Gastein Pro Team Tempo.
The Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XV had its first event today, the Bad Gastein Pro Team Tempo, offering emotions and strong performances by the Pro Teams present at the event in Sportgastein, Austria.
The Pro Team Tempo race in Austria was organized as an interval start competition with block starts. Pro Teams started one at a time in reversed order according to the Pro Team ranking of last season, with the top Pro Teams spread out in the starting field, and the gap between the blocks was 4 minutes.
The entire Pro Team was presented at the start, whereby only the male athletes started first and finished after 6.3km. When the second male athlete of a Pro Team crossed the finish line, all female athletes of the same team started into their competition for another 6.3km lap. The finishing time of the 2nd ranked female of the Pro Team counted for the final classification. This means the athletes needed to work together and help each other to reach the best overall time.
Bad Gastein Pro Team Tempo
The Pro Teams Team Engcon, Team Eksjöhus, Team Aker Dæhlie, and Team Ramudden showed their early season form throughout the entire race.
In the men’s field, with the best time, considering the time of the 2nd ranked man, Team Engcon was the fastest team with a time of 14:43.9.
Team Eksjöhus followed closely, with a time of 5.1 seconds behind. Team Ramudden finished the men’s leg in the third position, 9.5 seconds from the leaders.
In the women’s side, also considering the 2nd ranked woman, Team Engcon crushed the competition and finished with a total time of 31:51.6, 24.1 seconds ahead of Team Eksjöhus in second place.
Team Aker Dæhlie finished 31.0 seconds behind the leaders and completed the podium in the third place.
Top 3 Pro Teams in the Bad Gastein Pro Team Tempo
- Team Engcon, 31:51.6
(Eddie Edström, Anton Elvseth, Ole Jørgen Bruvoll, Johan Tjelle, Amund Hoel, Ida Dahl, Hanna Lodin, Tove Ericsson) - Team Eksjöhus, +24.1
(Morten Eide Pedersen, Thomas Ødegaarden, Axel Jutterström, Vebjørn Moen, Eirik Sverdrup Augdal, Kati Roivas, Sofie Elebro, Frida Erkers) - Team Aker Dæhlie, +31.0
(Max Novak, Stian Hoelgaard, Petter Stakston, Thomas Bucher-Johannessen, Silje Øyre Slind, Guro Jordheim)
Information about the Bad Gastein Pro Team Tempo and complete results can be found HERE and HERE
Bad Gastein Criterium
On Sunday, December 10, the season continues with the second event in Season XV, the Bad Gastein Criterium, a 36km long-distance race offering stunning scenery in the vicinity of the Tauern Alps.
The Sunday Bad Gastein Criterium is a mass-start race to be completed in several laps on a challenging course. The Sprint and Climb competitions start here with several chances to collect valuable points for the season. Champion competition points with 200 points to the winner will be handed out.
Bad Gastein Criterium – Map & Profile
Bad Gastein Criterium – Facts
- Location: Sportgastein, Austria
- Date: Sunday, December 10, 2023
- Start Time: 9:10 CET (Women) / 11:15 CET (Men)
- Distance: 36km Classic
- Number of SC Sprints: 2
- Sprint 1: 6.6km
- Sprint 2: 13.6km
- Number of SC Climbs: 2
- Climb 1: 21km
- Climb 2: 28.6km
- SC Play: Bad Gastein Criterium
Bad Gastein Criterium program, start lists, live timing, and live streaming on SC Play can be found here.
The Season XV of Ski Classics Pro Tour consists of 15 events on 11 event weekends in 6 different countries.
Ski Classics Pro Tour Season XV (2023/2024)
- Event 1: December 9, 2023 – Bad Gastein PTT, Austria, 13km
- Event 2: December 10, 2023 – Bad Gastein Criterium, Austria, 36km
- Event 3: December 16, 2023 – La Venosta Criterium, Italy, 35km
- Event 4: December 17, 2023 – La Venosta ITT, Italy, 10km
- Event 5: January 13, 2024 – 3 Zinnen Ski Marathon, Italy, 62km
- Event 6: January 20, 2024 – Engadin La Diagonela, Switzerland, 56km
- Event 7: January 28, 2024 – Marcialonga, Italy, 70km
- Event 8: February 11, 2024 – Jizerská50, Czech Republic, 50km
- Event 9: February 17, 2024 – Grönklitt Classic, Sweden, 60km
- Event 10: February 18, 2024 – Grönklitt ITT, Sweden, 13km
- Event 11: March 3, 2024 – Vasaloppet, Sweden, 90km
- Event 12: March 16, 2024 – Birkebeinerrennet, Norway, 54km
- Event 13: April 6, 2024 – Reistadløpet, Norway, 50km
- Event 14: April 7, 2024 – Summit 2 Senja, Norway, 60km
- Event 15: April 13, 2024 – Ski Classics Grand Finale – Janteloppet, Norway, 100km
More information about the Ski Classics Pro Tour can be found at skiclassics.com
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Photo: Reichert/NordicFocus