A day at the (cross-country ski) races

Cross-country skiing's World Cup races are in Milan this weekend, and we spent a little while this afternoon watching some qualifying and quarterfinals races.
In Parco Sempione.
Seriously, when I first noticed the World Cup posters a few weeks ago, I thought they were saying Milan because we were the closest city to whatever mountain location they were using. But no, they trucked in snow -- the city hasn't had a single flake this winter -- and raced around some of the paths between Castello Sforzesco and the duck pond.
Way cool.
This screen was set up behind the Castello.
I think there was another big screen by the Duomo, but we didn't make it down there.
The stands were only for VIPs, which of course we aren't. So we walked around until we found a clear spot to watch. These guys (and girls) were pretty fast considering there were no hills on the course.
Because there were staggered starts for qualifying, it was only individual racers who zoomed by. But when we came back after lunch, there were a few groups warming up and practicing.
Meanwhile, Laura got this close-up of the tracks they left:
Owen was grumpy by this time, so we only stayed for a couple of the women's quarterfinals races. But I am curious about how many of them end up with pole-poke injuries on corners such as this:
Someone has to ask the tough questions.