Audi FIS Ski Cross Alps Tour 2019 - preview

The 2019/20 Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup season will open once again with the highly anticipated and ultra-intense Cross Alps Tour. Featuring six competitions at four venues over the course of 17 days, the 2019 CAT will feature all the action of previous seasons with a slightly altered route across the Alps from what we’ve seen in previous years.

This year the Tour will open once again in Val Thorens (FRA) with a pair of races on December 6 and 7, before moving on to Montafon (AUT) for competition on Dec 14. After that the circuit will travel to Arosa (SUI) for the always thrilling nighttime sprint event on Dec 17, before finally ending off with the back-to-back two-race finale in historic Innichen/San Candido (ITA) on Dec 21 and 22.

What makes the Cross Alps Tour so special is not only the fact that it is physically and mentally very challenging, as both CAT winners of 2018 Sandra Naeslund (SWE) and Bastien Midol (FRA) can attest to, but it also has several Tour-specific rules and formats (a more in-depth explanation of which can be found HERE).

The most significant difference from Cross Alps Tour competition to a normal World Cup race is the Tour's “wild card” spot for top athletes. The wild card ensures a spot in the upcoming event's finals for the top 8 men and top 4 ladies according to the rankings ahead of each competition, regardless of that athlete’s qualifications result.

However, that doesn’t mean that the top ranked athletes don’t have an incentive to push it in qualies, as the top 8 men and top 4 ladies in each event’s qualifications will have the opportunity to choose their first heat opponents in a public heat selection before each competition (except for the last event of the Tour in Innichen/San Candido where only the top 32 men and 16 ladies in the rankings will be able to compete).

The public heat selection is always an entertaining affair and is consistently unpredictable, with the top athletes using different strategies and preferences in choosing their first-heat competitors.

The 2018 Cross Alps Tour saw Sandra Naeslund (SWE) win for the second-straight time on the women’s side, while Bastien Midol (FRA) began what would be one of the best men’s Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup seasons of all time with a CAT before going on to claim the 2018/19 crystal globe at season’s end. Not surprisingly, both top athletes have made it clear that winning the CAT once again in 2019 is a top goal for the upcoming season.

If Sandra Naeslund can manage to win this year’s edition, this could mean the CAT hat-trick for her, which would give her three in a row and three of the four total CAT titles in history.

Of course, there will be an army of women fighting Naeslund every step of the way, such as 2016 CAT winner, two-time crystal globe winner, Sochi 2014 Olympic gold medalist, and Utah 2019 world champion Marielle Thompson (CAN). Also, one can never forget last year’s overall crystal globe winner on the ladies’ side, Fanny Smith (SUI), who is also PyeongChang bronze medalist and the Utah 2019 world championships silver medalist. Heidi Zacher (GER), and Kreischberg 2015 world champion Andrea Limbacher (AUT), and PyeongChang 2018 Olympic silver medalist Brittany Phelan should also be on the watchlist for potential 2019 CAT title winners.

On the men's side, Bastien Midol will have some tough competition to face in the fight for his attempt at a second-straight CAT title.

PyeongChang 2018 Olympic champion and Utah 2019 world championships silver-medalist Brady Leman (CAN) is always someone to count on in the hunt for the podium, while Midol’s French teammate Jean-Frédéric Chapuis - the Sochi 2014 Olympic gold medalist, three-time crystal globe winner, and winningest men’s skier in ski cross World Cup history - will be looking to return to his dominating ways with a hot early start.

Veterans like Alex Fiva (SUI) and Chris Delbosco (CAN) have a multitude of podiums between them across the CAT venues, while young gun Florian Wilmsmann (GER) showed he could battle with the best of them towards the end of last season. However, in men’s ski cross, perhaps more than in any other FIS Freestyle event, the number of athletes who can rise to the occasion and compete for the podium at any given race is a long and impressive one.

Really, there’s only one way to find out who’s got what it takes to conquer the gruelling early-season battle that is the Cross Alps Tour, and that’s to tune in when the 2019 CAT kicks off in Val Thorens on December 6 and 7.

*PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING SECTION WILL BE UPDATED FOR EACH CAT RACE, SO PLEASE COME BACK BEFORE EACH COMPETITION TO GATHER THE UPDATED INFORMATION*

Innichen/ San Candido - 21.12.2019:

WATCH LIVE

ORF Sport+ (Austria), Rai Sport (Italy), Sport1 (Lithuania), POLSAT Sports News (Poland), SLO 3 (Slovenia), SRF ZWEI (Switzerland), NBC Sports Gold (USA), CBC Streaming (Canada)

Live streaming will also be available on our Youtube channel. Please note that due to broadcasting rights restrictions, live streaming may not be available in your region.
Full list of countries with the live streaming availabe can be found HERE.

Innichen/ San Candido - 22.12.2019

WATCH LIVE

ORF Sport+ (Austria), Sport1 (Lithuania), Z doku (Netherlands), SLO 3 (Slovenia), NBC Sports Gold (USA), CBC Streaming (Canada)

Live streaming will also be available on our Youtube channel. Please note that due to broadcasting rights restrictions, live streaming may not be available in your region.
Full list of countries with the live streaming availabe can be found HERE.

QUICK LINKS

Innichen World Cup data page (results)
Cross Alps Tour standings Women
Cross Alps Tour standings Men
Cross Alps Tour standings Nation
CAT Teaser
Full Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup calendar