Austria prepares to welcome Pro Teams and their athletes once again as the Ski Classics Season XVI kicks off in Bad Gastein. The season opener weekend starts with the Bad Gastein flat ITT.

On Saturday, December 14, Season XVI will burst into action with the ITT in Bad Gastein, Austria, covering a distance of 7 kilometers on a flat course. This new event format will open up the standings in an interesting way.

The flat  ITT  is a new race format for Season XVI and is organized as a new 200-point ITT. Athletes will start with a 20-60 sec gap, depending on the seeding group.