Ski Cross athletes in full training mode for upcoming season

With only 53 days away from the first races of the Audi FIS Ski Cross Alps Tour in Val Thorens on December 6 and 7, teams and athletes are in full training mode.

Over the course of the summer, ski cross athletes mostly hit the gym, challenge themselves outdoors in various sports activities, but also find ways to relax a little bit in between and recharge their batteries to be prepared for the upcoming season. Towards the end of the summer it is time to get back on snow, so training facilities overseas, but also glaciers in Europe are being used for some good skiing action.

Lately, some ski cross teams met in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where joined forces were used to prepare a good and challenging course for the athletes to get some great training runs in. Various training possibilities were offered and even a team race was organised, which resulted in a great competition.

The top 3 men of the overall World Cup standings 2019, Bastien Midol (FRA), Jean-Frédéric Chapuis (FRA) and Alex Fiva (SUI) participated, as well as the women's overall 2018 World Cup winner Sandra Naeslund (SWE). Naeslund said that even though some athletes have been at training camp for almost three weeks and the course always offered different lines, which caused a lot of excitement among the participants.

As it is time to seriously think about the goals in a season without big events, like the Olympic Winter Games or World Championships, one of Sandra Naeslund´s goals will be the Cross Alps Tour Hattrick after she had already won the intense race series with 6 races in 4 resorts within 17 days two years in a row before. But the 23-year-old will also set her focus on winning the overall Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup title again after her win in 2017/18, as she states with excitement to get the new season started.

On the men´s side, Bastien Midol (FRA), last year´s CAT and overall Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup winner, has also set goals to defend his two titles in the upcoming season. “The Cross Alps Tour is physically and mentally very challenging, so we really need to prepare well for it”, says Midol, who is also currently in training mode to get fit in time when the season will set off in his home country France in December.

The full Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup calendar can be found HERE.