The squared patterned "Lumberjack" Climb bib is worn by the female and male with the most current Climb points before each event. There are 0-2 Climb checkpoints in the events. The seven fastest women and seven fastest men split times at the Climb checkpoint lines will get points. The overall winner is the athlete with the most Climb points after the season in each gender.
For Season XIV, there will be a new category, the Iconic Climbs, to enhance the interest around the climbs and reward the strongest athletes slightly more. The Iconic Climb points give 50% more points than a Category 1 Climb, 45 points instead of 30 points in the Climb competition.
For the upcoming season, there will be four Iconic Climbs, two in the Alps (Prato Piazza at Prato Piazza Mountain Challenge and Cascata at Marcialonga) and two in Scandinavia (Raudfjellet at Birkebeinerrennet and Orta at Reistadløpet).
The Climb competition will certainly be tight this season. There are many strong uphill skiers on the Pro Tour, both in the men's and women's categories. It is hard to pick just one possible winner as most of the favorites are also strong podium skier candidates and therefore may not be fully focusing on this particular competition.
Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Team XPND Fuel, and Astrid Øyre Slind, Team Aker Dæhlie, are the reigning champions in this competition. They will defend their titles with tooth and nail, but winning the Climb competition is no walk in the park for anyone. They are, without a doubt, setting their sights on the Champion competition, but they certainly want to take home the lumberjack jersey once again.
Climb Bib Favorites Men – Ski Classics Season XIV
- Nationality: Norway
- Date of Birth: 03.08.1983
- Pro Team: Team XPND Fuel
- Likelihood to win: 4 out of 5
- Nationality: Sweden
- Date of Birth: 30.04.1995
- Pro Team: Team Ramudden
- Likelihood to win: 4 out of 5
- Nationality: Norway
- Date of Birth: 18.12.1987
- Pro Team: Team Eksjöhus
- Likelihood to win: 3 out of 5
- Nationality: Norway
- Date of Birth: 20.12.1994
- Pro Team: Team Kaffebryggeriet
- Likelihood to win: 2 out of 5
- Nationality: Norway
- Date of Birth: 17.12.1994
- Pro Team: Team Ragde Charge
- Likelihood to win: 2 out of 5
Climb Bib Favorites Women – Ski Classics Season XIV
- Nationality: Norway
- Date of Birth: 09.02.1988
- Pro Team: Team Aker Dæhlie
- Likelihood to win: 4 out of 5
- Nationality: Sweden
- Date of Birth: 17.01.1996
- Pro Team: Team Engcon
- Likelihood to win: 3 out of 5
- Nationality: Norway
- Date of Birth: 09.06.1992
- Pro Team: Team Ramudden
- Likelihood to win: 2 out of 5
- Nationality: Norway
- Date of Birth: 17.06.1995
- Pro Team: Team Eksjöhus
- Likelihood to win: 1 out of 5
- Nationality: Sweden
- Date of Birth: 18.01.1996
- Pro Team: Team Ragde Charge
- Likelihood to win: Darkhorse
As we can see, many great athletes are capable of skiing hard on long climbs, but "the king and the queen of the mountain" will most likely reign over their kingdom for one more year. But they need to put serious focus on winning this category because the challengers do not hesitate to dethrone them!
Written by Expert Commentator Teemu Virtanen.
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