Pre-Tour Quotes

Fri, Dec  26, 2008 - By FIS

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) by Nordic Focus

In a day, the Tour will kick off - so far we have seen some new faces on the podium during the World Cup and some of them have for sure a chance to win the Tour. But how do the athletes feel...here we have some statements from some favorites:

Virpi Kuitunen (FIN): "So far every race has given me faith in my shape and in the work I have done. In the result lists you just don't get the rewards for that only, you have to get the best out of your body to make sure the good shape can be seen also in the result lists and is not just your own knowledge. I believe Alpe Cermis will be the biggest challenge for me, and I also believe the final decisions about top spots will be seen again on Alpe Cermis, as it is hard to make big enough gap before it. The aim is to get as many points as possible from the Tour, it doesn't make sense to go there just for seven hard races..."

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN): "My aim and hope is to make it to the podium in the overall rankings. I hope I can ski constantly at good level like I have been doing so far this season. I believe the Tour de Ski is going to be an even and tight competition. My challenge is to make even, good performances in each race, but on the other hand that is my strength too..."

Axel Teichmann (GER) by Nordic Focus

Axel Teichmann (GER):"The Tour will start in Oberhof, the place where I am living. It is for sure something special to start at home and I would be great for me to win there. To say today, who will be top on the Tour is difficult; the Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski is a special event. But personally I do not consider myself as a Tour favorite

Tor Arne Hetland (NOR): The Tour is one of my goals. I had a great weekend in Duesseldorf and now my focus is totally on the Tour. It would be great to be on the podium on the top of Alpe Cermis."