Looking at the Course Times per Race and Season, I noticed some strong differences in what laps are faster and slower:
For example, Oslo starts fast (the course times are shown in seconds, so the lower the value, the faster the ski) but ends really slow, with a significance time difference. Oberhof on the other hand gets faster as the race goes on. Initially I wondered if these trends were influenced by tactics based on weather conditions, but looking a the chart above it is clear the the trends are strongly dependent on the location / stadium / course.
I used R to create a document to track my research and you can read it by clicking the link below.
For the conclusion, I’ll refer you to the (bottom of the) page linked above, but I will say I was really surprised how hard it was to find course information for the different races. Some sites have Race Media Guides, but some do not, and even the content of the guides with regard to course information is inconsistent. You would think that information should not be that hard to find. Perhaps I should see if I can get a media account with IBU!
Cheers,
RJ