Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup comes back to Feldberg
Feb 14, 2019·Ski Cross
With the Utah 2019 FIS World Championships (and a little vacation break) in the rearview mirror, the ladies and men of the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup tour are back at it for a big week of competition slated for Germany’s Feldberg resort, where back-to-back qualification days on Thursday and Friday will set us up for back-to-back races this weekend on Saturday and Sunday in the Black Forest.
This will be the second time the SX World Cup visits Feldberg, after a hit-and-miss first visit to the venue around this time back in 2017. While the 2017 stop also called for a pair of races at the German slope, poor weather meant that only the men’s competition could be run on day two.
If the forecast stays consistent, the weather should be much better this time around in Feldberg, with sunny skies and spring-link temperatures predicted throughout the weekend. And, with the track nicely set-up after a pair of snowboard cross races hit Feldberg last weekend, the short-but-sweet course should be up the task over the next few days.
Coming into Feldberg it’s Switzerland’s Fanny Smith leading the World Cup standings with four victories and five total podiums in six competitions thus far for 505 points. Smith has seemed nigh-on unstoppable at points in 2018/19, and seems to be equally as dangerous whether fighting from the back or running with the lead.
That being said, it was World Cup second overall Marielle Thompson walking away with the biggest victory of the season at the Utah 2019 world champs, taking gold after executing a daring outside pass on Smith at the second-to-last corner of the Solitude course, relegating Smith to the silver medal. With Thompson sitting 105 points back of Smith with five races left in the season, the battle between the two 26-year-old arch rivals over the finals month and half of 2018/19 should be a great one.
Other to watch out for include Germany’s own Heidi Zacher, who won the lone ladies’ race in Feldberg here in 2016/17, Sandra Naeslund (SWE), who, despite sitting third overall, still seems capable of finding another gear before the season hits the homestretch, Utah 2019 bronze medal winner Alizee Baron (FRA), and perhpas Sanna Luedi (SUI) who put down some of the fastest training times ahead of what will be her 50th career World Cup start on Friday.
On the men’s side, it’s France coming into Feldberg riding high, with Bastien Midol and Jean Frederic Chapuis sitting 1-2 on the World Cup standings, and with Francois Place holding Utah 2019 gold as the new ski cross world champion.
While Midol holds a strong lead atop the standings, with 415 points to Chapuis’ 254, between Chapuis and the 19th-ranked skier on the list there is only a difference of 150 points, meaning that a bad day for a few of the favourites and a couple good results from some underdogs and the whole 2018/19 crystal globe race could be thrown on its ear.
Chapuis won both races in Feldberg last time the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup visited here, and if he was to have any sort of repeat performance this time around, he could put himself in position to angle for what would tie the him for the men’s ski cross record with Tomas Kraus (CZE) with four trophies (no other man has more than one).
However, coming out of Utah 2019 there a slew of athletes carrying, including Canadian silver and bronze medallists Brady Leman and Kevin Drury (respectively), and world champs fourth-place finisher and current third in the World Cup standings Alex Fiva (SUI).
But really just about anybody in the top-20 (or lower) who could be able to step up for some good results in Feldberg this weekend with such parity among the men.
Two qualification rounds are sleted to take place on Thursday and Friday at 10:30 CET, while the finals will take place on Saturday and Sunday at 11:30 CET.
WATCH LIVE:
ORF Sport + (Austria), Eurosport 1 (Asia/Pacific), Eurosport 2 (Europe), Ziggo Sport and Ziggo Sport Select (Netherlands).
QUICK LINKS:
Feldberg FIS data page (event programme, start lists, live scoring, results)
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