Today we present the favorites in the Sprint competition for Season XI. The green Sprint bib is worn by the male and female with the most current Sprint points before each event. There are 0-2 sprints in the events. The ten fastest men and five fastest women split times at the sprints will get points. The overall winner is the athlete with most sprint points after the season in each gender.
WOMEN - SPRINT BIB FAVORITES
1. Lina Korsgren – Team Ramudden
Finally Lina Korsgren won her first jersey last season, by capturing the green sprint bib just ahead of Britta Johansson Norgren. Korsgren has reportedly had a great training summer and even if the yellow bib is the main goal we think she will collect lots of sprint points.
2. Anikken Gjerde Alnæs – Team Ragde Eiendom
Team Ragde Eiendom has totally refurnished their women’s squad. Now there is a lot of pressure on Anikken Gjerde Alnæs, who skied a few race in Visma Ski Classics the season of 2019, to perform well. Since she won a Scandinavian Cup race in sprint last winter, we guess that she is eager to show her speed in the intermediate sprints.
3. Linn Sömskar – Team Nordic Athlete
With strong international sprint results both in rollerskiing and in skiing, we think Linn Sömskar can be a contender for the green sprint bib already her first year on the tour. But will she have the upper body endurance to stay in the peloton until the sprints that are late in the races?
MEN - SPRINT BIB FAVORITES
1. Stian Berg – Team Kaffebryggeriet
Even though he sometimes last for a whole race – such as in 2019 when he was 11th in the Birkebeinerrennet and when he won Klarälvsloppet 90 km on rollerskis – Stian Berg is certainly a specialist at the intermediate sprints. He can win the sprint bib for the second year in a row.
2. Alexander Panzhinskiy – Team Robinson Trentino
When he has the day, few skiers are as fast as the Russian Alexander Panzhinskiy. He still hasn’t been top 40 in a Visma Ski Classics race, so a little better endurance would probably help him to gather more points on intermediate sprints late in races, which could make him improve his fourth place in the sprint competition from last year.
3. Oskar Kardin – Team Ragde Eiendom
Since Oskar Kardin joined Team Ragde Eiendom for the season of 2018 he has sprinted for green points numerous times. Last three years he has been 2nd, 4th and 3rd in the Sprint competition. We can’t see anyone else in Ragde that would take his role, so we expect Kardin to go for the green bib this winter as well.
