Cross country skiing is extremely popular and runs throughout the winter months. The cross-country World Cup is always a hugely competitive event and it runs from November through to March.
It begins in Finland and finishing in Quebec, Canada. It provides plenty of entertainment and drama throughout the four months and there are always plenty of twists and turns before the winner is crowned.
The 2018-19 season will the 38th edition although this year’s event will be interrupted by the World Championships, which are held in Austria.
It’s an event which collates the world’s best cross country skiiers and some of the biggest names in the sport will regularly fight it out for vitally important points. These points will be accumulated and will help move each competitor up the leaderboard.
Marit Bjorgen of Norway has the best overall record with 114 victories between 2000 and 2018 and is a long way ahead of fellow countrywoman Therese Johaug, who has just 48.
As well as Ruka and Quebec, other stages of the Cross Country World Cup are also held in Lillehammer, Davos, Oberstdorf and Falun. The race moves around Europe during the early months and regularly attracts thousands of spectators.
2018-19 Prediction Report
A number of big names are featured towards the top of the betting and it’s unsurprising to see Therese Johaug dominating the market. The Norwegian has been given an implied probability of 91.74% and has made a decent start to the campaign. Her recent performances have seen her increase her probability from 52.63% at the end of June. The three-time Olympic Gold medallist was successful in the first race of her comeback winning the 10KM in Ruka ahead of Charlotte Kaller. This saw her implied probability rise to 71.43% as punters moved quickly to back her for success this season.
It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Johaug who was defeated by fellow Norwegian Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg. She remains at just 9.09% in the prediction chart implying that she has a small chance of success this season.
At the beginning of 2019, with several events and stop-offs still to come, Johaug’s popularity hasn’t diminished and she remains top of the betting and still boasts a 91.74% implied probability of coming out on top.
The aforementioned Charlotte Kalla of Sweden is a consistent performer and is likely to remain strong throughout the World Cup. At the beginning of 2019, she had an implied probability of 10.00% and that has slightly decreased from 12.50% at the end of November. The Olympic Gold Medallist hasn’t won any of the first 13 events but has picked up two second places and a third and her inability to come out on top will be the main reason for her slight drop in the betting.
Another member of the Norwegian team, Heidi Weng is just ahead of Kalla and has been given a 11.11% chance of success this year. She’s trailing Johaug by a fair amount in the overall standings but there are still plenty of opportunities left in 2019.
2017-18 World Cup
Heidi Weng was victorious last year, retaining her title and she finished the event at the top of the standings with 1476 points in total. She is prominent in the betting yet again but hasn’t been able to replicate those performances just yet. She dominated the distance events last season and accumulated the highest amount of prize money.
Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg finished third in the standings, just behind Jessica Diggins of the USA. The vastly experienced Marit Bjorgen could only end the competition in fifth. Charlotte Kalla was seventh with the Swede winning three of the events in November and December.
