Cortina d’Ampezzo set for PGS World Cup event on Saturday
Dec 13, 2019·Alpine Snowboard
The second competition of the 2019/20 FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup season is taking place on Saturday evening, December 14, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, with the world’s top snowboard racers getting back to parallel giant slalom action after a hugely entertaining season-opener last week in Bannoye (RUS)
The first of three Italian venues on the circuit in 2019/20, Cortina D’Ampezzo is one that all riders will have circled on their calendars after the Milan-Cortina bid was awarded the right to hold the 2026 Olympic Winter Games. With staggering vistas all around, five previous season of holding an exceptional level of competition, and the extra fun that goes along with nighttime racing, the Cortina event promises to once again be nothing short of excellent.
The back-to-back competitions in Bannoye (RUS) saw victories for two pairs of well-decorated athletes who faced down powerful challengers in both the women’s and men’s competitions. In the PSL race Julie Zogg (SUI) and Andreas Prommegger (AUT) came on top of the field, while in next day’s PGS competition it was Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) and Roland Fischnaller (ITA) who walked away victorious.
There was an interesting mix of veteran and up-and-coming riders who qualified through to both final rounds in Bannoye (RUS), setting the stage for what promises to be a compelling FIS Snowboard alpine World Cup season from beginning to end.
On the women’s side, except from the afore-mentioned Zogg and Hofmeister, keep an eye on Ladina Jenny (SUI), Selina Joerg (GER) and Claudia Riegler (AUT) this Saturday, as all three athletes are coming off a hot start into the new season - with each one of them securing at least one podium finish in Bannoye, while also not finishing lower than top-5.
Also keep in the mix the likes of Natalia Soboleva (RUS), Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT), Patrizia Kummer (SUI), Nadya Ochner (ITA) and Daniela Ulbing (AUT), who all have managed to get on the podium in Cortina before and will certainly try their chances also this weekend.
On the men’s side, all eyes will be on Italy’s own Roland Fischnaller, as the 39-year-old legend of the sport has podiums in all five previous attempts at Cortina (one victory and two runner-ups in PSL, one victory and one runner-up in PGS). Fischnaller has won his last two events in Cortina, while in the first ever Cortina competition back in 2015/16 Fischnaller was part of an incredible Italian sweep of the podium.
Others looking hot heading into Cortina include the Austrian trio of Andreas Prommegger, Benjamin Karl and Alexander Payer, as well the majority of the Italian snowboard team, with the likes Aaron March, Maurizio Bormolini and Mirko Felicetti all eager to repeat their podium performances from last week in Bannoye.
Those Italian athletes will have history on their side. That’s because through the history of the FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup visiting Cortina they’ve managed to take 10 of a possible 30 podiums through the competition’s previous four seasons on tour. With the course primed, perfect weather expected on Saturday in the Dolomites, and the momentum the host Italians carry into this weekend’s competition, all the pieces are in place for a FIS Snowboard PGS World Cup in Cortina d’Ampezzo that should add to the resort’s already rich alpine snowboard racing legacy.
PGS qualification in Cortina begins at 15:00 CET, with finals taking place under the lights at 19:00.
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