Women's Cross-Country World Cup kicks off at Ruka Nordic – With the Olympics closing in, the stakes are as high as ever

The 2025/2026 Cross-Country World Cup begins with the women’s 10k interval start classic on Friday the 28th of November at Ruka Nordic. First skier will be out of the gates at 10.30 am (CET) and the race for the Crystal Globe will be off again. With the Winter Olympics looming, everything suggests that it will be an amazing start to the season. 

One year ago in the women’s 10k at Ruka Nordic, Frida Karlsson took a dominant victory and she’s one of the favorites again this year. Her Swedish teammate Ebba Andersson is also one of the favorites. 

Last year’s overall Crystal Globe and distance Crystal Globe winner Jessie Diggins starts her last season in the World Cup before her retirement. She’s definitely one to look out for in the 10k and the whole weekend overall. Krista Pärmäkoski also announced that she’s retiring after this season. She will have a lot of eyes on her this weekend for sure.

Can one of the Finns challenge the favorites in their backyard? Kerttu Niskanen and Jasmi Joensuu will surely be hungry in their home country and could at least take a home podium.

With the Olympics on the horizon every skier will have to show their absolute best if they want to get into the Olympics. Olympic spots are still up for grabs for most, so the stakes are high for skiers this weekend. A great start to the World Cup season would be huge for skiers with an Olympic spot in the back of their mind.

The conditions are still in question, the weather will get warmer towards the weekend and if it snows or rains the tracks will not be in the best possible condition. The preparation of the skis will be left for the morning of the race because the night before it will get radically warmer. It’s predicted that the morning of the race it will be 0 degrees celsius which is radically warmer than the -10 degrees it has been all week leading up the race.

Text: Pietu Enne
Image: Ruka Nordic