Nordic Ways is happy to announce that for the first time in its history, the FIS-sanctioned China Tour de Ski will go to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region next month. The new stages in Urumqi’s Tianshan Tianchi International Ski Resort and the Nalati grasslands in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture will complete the 7-stage long Tour that takes skiers to three different regions of China.
Formalities took a little longer than expected but everything is now confirmed. The 2013 China Tour de Ski starts in Changchun, Jilin, on 2 January and moves on to Xiwuqi in Inner Mongolia for the two traditional stages up there on 4 and 5 January. A day of travel will then take the skiers and the organisational crew to Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang. At the Tianshan Tianchi resort, a long distance race of 5 km and a sprint race of 1.2 km awaits the participants on 7 and 8 January respectively. Finally, the same type of races will be on the programme in Nalati on 10 and 11 january to conclude China Tour de Ski.
The 40 best domestic skiers in China will as usual be challenged by 40 European skiers throughout the seven days of competition. More details on the ski courses and the overall programme, as well as a provisional list of participants will be published on this website next week.