This coming weekend is full of action-packed roller-ski races. The world biggest roller-ski event Alliansloppet in Trollhättan, Sweden, a part of the Visma Ski Classics Challengers series, starts today with the 15 km classic individual race, and Ring Frei in Salzburg, Austria, is a day of activities and fun races on a motor sports racing track, one of the sports is the 42 km skating race, and also a Challengers event.
Alliansloppet’s history goes back to the last decade when the organizers decided to create a summer equivalent to the mass start ski races in the winter. The first edition took place in 2007, the event has since then grown to a popular get-together for amateurs and elite skiers alike. The 16-kilometer lap starts around the beautiful water falls in Trollhättan and continues through some idyllic landscapes of the region. The course is not technically demanding when it comes to downhills, which makes the race very suitable for beginners. The race is in classic technique and has three distances to choose from; 16, 32 and 48 km.
Additionally, there are shorter races in the mix starting with the aforementioned 15 km race today. Tomorrow is then devoted to fast-paced skiing as the sprint competitions are in the program. In today’s race, many of the Visma Ski Classics athletes are ready to face some national team skiers. Among the Pro Team skiers, there are Max Novak, Johannes Eklöf and Herman Paus from Team Ramudden, Stian Hoelgaard from Team Curira, Morten Eide Pedersen and Axel Jutterström from Team Eksjöhus, Runar Skaug Mathisen, Emil Persson and Marcus Johansson from Lager 157 Ski Team, and Mart Kevin Polluste from Nordic Jobs Worldwide.
These long distance skiers will go head-to-head with some of the world’s best World Cup skiers such as William Poromaa, Jens Burman, Oskar Svensson, Calle Halfvarsson, Jean-Marc Gaillard, Maurice Manificat and many more. The start of the race is at 2:35 pm CET.
In the women’s 15 km interval start race, there are many Pro Team athletes ready to face the competition such as Laila Kveli from Team Engcon, Hedda Bångman from Team Eksjöhus, Lina Korsgren from Team Ramudden, Thea Krokan Murud, Hanna Falk and Britta Johansson Norgren from Lager 157 Ski Team. They will fight against a good number of World Cup skiers such as Charlotte Kalla, Ebba Anderson, Jonna Sundling, Emma Ribom, Maja Dahlqvist, Laurie Van Der Graff and Anamaria Lampic. The race starts at 3:55 pm CET today.
On Saturday, the Alliansloppet Action Week presents the main event, which is the 48 km classic mass start race featuring a great cast of Pro Team athletes and World Cup skiers. That race starts at 11:45 am CET for men and 11:55 am CET for women.
Ring Frei in Salzburg, Austria, will take place on Sunday this weekend. There are nine different sports to choose from, and one of the races is the 42 km skating race on roller-skis. The racing course is on the famous Salzburgring, which has been a familiar racetrack for many motor sports heroes such as Michael Schumacher, Keke Rosberg, Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda, Gerhard Berger and Helmut Marko. The organizers promise a fun event program with a lot of action and thrills in the narrow alpine valley close to the city of Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart.
You can also listen to our podcast episode about the Summer Challengers and learn more about these two events. Additionally, stay tuned for results and reports from both events.
More information about Alliansloppet and Ring Frei:
