The organizers managed to prepare a 1,500 meters long circuit. "Before each shooting, the athletes will have to ski one more circuit, which will lead through the stadium behind the coaching zone," said the Race Director Miroslav Handschuh.
Even the program had to be changed. Originally planned Saturday's Mass Start race was replaced with another Sprint. Both days it starts at 10:00. There will be 185 competitors on the start line, battling in categories from juniors to veterans. The entry list is missing the Czech National Team who is currently preparing for the January continuation of the World Cup, which starts next week in Oberhof, Germany.
"It is difficult to find favorites in the starting list when the National Team doesn't take part. But I guess that candidates for the podiums can be found among athletes from Letohrad, Jablonec, Jilemnice and Nové Město," added the director Handschuh.
Jiří Pošvář