2020/21 Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup season preview
Dec 08, 2020·Ski Cross
The time has finally come – the air is getting crispy, temperatures are low, athletes are fully prepared and some serious Ski Cross World Cup business is just around the corner! We are officially one week away from the season kick-off!
This year, the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup will have its first stage in the Swiss Alps – athletes will get their race mode started in Arosa (SUI) for back-to-back nighttime short-course events on Dec 15 and 16 under the floodlights.
The circuit will then continue to the classic French resort Val Thorens for two pre-Christmas races on Dec 19 and 20.
Afterwards there will be a short Christmas and New Year’s break before the circuit will get back into racing mode in Austria’s Montafon on January 15. Then, ski cross athletes will move up North to Sweden’s Idre Fjäll resort for the “Idre Fjäll TRE”. This is a new format as the competition week will open up with a 600m sprint event on the finish straight of the course, followed by back-to-back races on Jan 23 & 24. Therefore, the name for the Swedish competition week is “The Idre Fjäll TRE”, because “tre” means “three” in Swedish.
The tour will then head to Germany for another double race at Feldberg on Jan 30 & 31. After that ski cross athletes will go to Bakuriani (GEO) for the very first time to have a test event for the FIS Freestyle Ski, Snowboard and Freeski World Championships Bakuriani 2023 on Feb 6.
In the Georgian resort, the world premiere of the ski cross team event is going to take place on the following day, Feb 7. It will be the first time ever that this format will be held and it is an important step towards getting into the World Championships and Olympic programme for ski cross.
The journey will then continue to Russia´s Sunny Valley resort for a race on March 13, where the fight for the highly anticipated golden crown will be happening, which always marks a highlight for athletes and fans.
Finally, the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup will have its grand finale and crystal globe show on March 21 in Veysonnaz (SUI).
While the circuit will see the majority of its best athletes in the gates again this season, familiar faces said “goodbye” to the Ski Cross World Cup and will for sure be missed. FIS would like to say “thank you” for their great performances over the years and wish them the best of luck for their future!
2014 Sochi OWG silver medalist Arnaud Bovolenta (FRA)
Christoph Wahrstoetter (AUT)
Anton Grimus (AUS)
Priscillia Annen-Zumstein (SUI)
Lisa Eisenbeitl (AUT)
Whitney Gardner (USA)
Quick look back on the women’s side
As for the women, it was Sandra Naeslund (SWE), who took home the ski cross overall crystal globe for the second time in her career after a highly successful season 2019/20. Swiss ski cross ace Fanny Smith was always in a tight battle with the Swedish athlete for the very first spot in the overall rankings, however Naeslund never really took off the leaderbib after her first win at the kick-off competition of the season in Val Thorens in December 2019.
The open fight for the crystal globe was slated to go down at the very last race of the season on Smith’s home soil, however never happened, as the final race of the season had to be cancelled, making Naeslund the overall winner.
Of course, the reigning Solitude 2019 World Champion Marielle Thompson (CAN) was always in the fight for the top spots of the podium and managed to finishe third in the overall season ranking.
What happened last season on the men’s side?
On the men’s side Kevin Drury (CAN) was unstoppable with four victories and three second-places throughout the entire season and was the one crowned overall crystal globe winner at the end of the season for the very first time in his career.
We also saw a highly motivated Ryan Regez (SUI) getting stronger at each race, kicking the season off with a podium spot in Val Thorens as well, which apparently made for a good omen, as he finished the overall rankings in second position.
In total, the half Swiss, half English athlete managed to jump on the podium four times, claiming two wins this past season.
Rounding out the top three ranking on the overall standings was no other than Pyeongchang 2018 OWG champion Brady Leman (CAN), who one can never count out for podium spots.
New faces on the podium
We also saw some great maiden podiums, like Canada’s Courtney Hoffos at the season kick-off races in Val Thorens with back-to-back podiums at the very first World Cup races for the 23-year-old.
Also, Sweden’s “Viking Princess” Alexandra Edebo managed to fight her way into third position in Megève (FRA) to grab her first podium spot, just behind team mate Sandra Naeslund and Canadian winner Marielle Thompson.
The Canadian team performed really well as a whole in the past season, claiming the Overall Nation’s Cup and also on the men’s side we saw some really emotional maiden World Cup winners, like Kris Mahler in Val Thorens (FRA) and Reece Howden in front of his home crowd in Nakiska (CAN).
Maiden wins are always very special and make for that extra spark in the athlete’s eyes – we want to see more of them this season, please!
Who to watch for the upcoming season – women (click for FIS profile):
Sandra Naeslund (SWE): the 24-year-old Swede is without a doubt one of the most talented athletes in ski cross. Naeslund had one of the best seasons in ski cross history in 2017/18, winning the 2017 Sierra Nevada World Championships, 2017/18 overall Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup crystal globe, AND winning the 2017/18 FIS Freestyle Skiing overall World Cup crystal globe as the top athlete across any of the six Freestyle events.
Naeslund managed to win the overall ski cross crystal globe again last season (2019/20) with a super consistent performance throughout the entire World Cup tour.
Entering the 2020/21 season, the Swedish athlete unfortunately has to deal with a little setback. Naeslund injured her right knee during training in November. The athlete suffered from a cartilage damage. Thankfully, she did not have to undergo surgery though. She will not be competing at the season kick-off races in December, but hopefully after some successful rehab training, Naeslund will be able to join the circuit at the beginning of the new year.
Fanny Smith (SUI): the 2018/19 ski cross crystal globe and 2019 World Championship silver medal are only the most recent achievements of this exceptional Swiss ski cross superstar. Add a bronze medal from the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, and the fact that Smith has won a medal at every World Championships since 2013 - the same year she won her first crystal globe - and you begin to understand why Smith is one of the most popular ski cross athletes in the sport’s history.
28-year-old Smith has finished second in the overall SX ranking last year, and this season she will be for sure back in the battle for top spot on tour.
Marielle Thompson (CAN): the reigning Solitude 2019 World Champion in ski cross is also the 2016/17 ski cross World Cup crystal globe winner and Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games gold medalist. Thompson has an amazing record of 41 World Cup podiums in 89 career starts, including 24 victories – the most that any active athlete has up to date - and has only found herself outside of the top-10 once since the start of the 2010/11 season.
After a knee injury forced her to miss all of the 2017/18 World Cup season, the 28-year-old has managed to fight her way back to the top of the ski cross world and will be for sure looking to be in the battle for the crystal globe.
Not to be overlooked: Marielle Berger-Sabbatel (FRA), Daniela Maier (GER), Alexandra Edebo (SWE)
Who to watch for the upcoming season – men (click for FIS profile):
Kevin Drury (CAN): the Canadian was unstoppable with four victories and three second-places throughout the entire season 2019/20 and was the one crowned overall crystal globe winner at the end of it for the very first time in his career. It seems, after he won the Solitude 2019 World Championships bronze medal, it was a boost for his confidence to really trust in his skiing. Drury claimed that for the upcoming season he will be focusing on defending the crystal globe. Let’s see what “Mr. Quadzilla” has in store for 2020/21.
Ryan Regez (SUI): the tall Swiss athlete took his maiden win in the 2018/19 season in Feldberg (GER) and grabbed another podium spot on the following day of the back-to-back races. After that, it just seemed to have clicked for him. He took home 4 podium spots of which two of them were victories in 2019/20, which proved for a pretty consistent performance throughout the season and earned him the second place in the overall standings at the end of the season. It seems, the vegan is just getting started to show what he really has in store!
Brady Leman (CAN): 2018 PyeongChang Olympic champion and 2019 Solitude World Championships silver medalist Brady Leman is an athlete one always has to look out for. The veteran has a total of 113 World Cup starts on his account already, of which he stepped onto the podium 28 times, of which he claimed victory five times. Need we say more?!
Leman may be 34 years old, but he is far from slowing down, since he finished overall in third rank last season. Maybe, this year he will want to achieve what is missing in his collection so far – the SX overall crystal globe.
Not to be overlooked: Florian Wilmsmann (GER), Bastien Midol (FRA), Kristofor Mahler (CAN)
So, now that we have you all prepared for the season - let's get it started with a bang on December 15 in Arosa!
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