Red start group

The red starting group includes the 30 best cross-country skiers in the cross-country world cup and serves as the basis for the starting order in world cup races. In the women's and men's World Cup there is a red starting group for sprint races and one for distance races.

membership

Membership in the red start group is determined by the individual races within the World Cup. Races within a world championship and Olympic Games are also included in the evaluation. The season is divided into 4 time periods, in which all points are added up. A new red starting group will be determined for every 4 season sections. The points from the previous season are included in the evaluation until the season part in the new season has started. This means that the points from section III from the previous season will only be deleted when section III has started in the new season. As a member of the red starting group, an athlete is guaranteed a starting place in World Cup races.

Starting place allocation

In the distance races, a distinction is made between mass start and individual start races to create the starting positions. While in the mass start races the athletes from the red starting group are allowed to start from the first rows, all others have to start the race behind, depending on their start number.

In the individual start races, in which each athlete starts individually every half a minute, the starters of the red group traditionally go onto the trail last. This is practiced in order to keep the races as exciting as possible until the end, since this way the favorites reach the finish last and thus usually still have a strong influence on the final result. An exceptional case comes into force if an athlete outside the red starting group is the leader in the World Cup ranking. If this is the case, the athlete will automatically start in the first row (in mass start races) or as the last (in single start races).

Problems

Some trainers in cross-country skiing criticize the starting system, especially in individual races. Because of the late start, it can happen that in races with high participation, as is the case above all at World Championships or the Olympic Games, weak runners can hinder the top athletes on the trail, as the races often take place on a route over several laps go. Another point of criticism is the limited influence on external conditions. At the 2007 World Championships in Sapporo, the previously completely unknown Belarusian Leanid Karneyenka surprisingly won the silver medal after he started his race early in ideal conditions, while the red group, which started 45 minutes after him, was thwarted by heavy snowfall.