Feldberg ready for back-to-back SX races
Jan 29, 2021·Ski Cross
Leaving the Scandinavian air behind us, we now travelled to the German stop on the Audi FIS Ski Cross World Cup calendar, which is Feldberg in the black forest. Unfortunately, the double races in Feldberg last year had to be cancelled, because weather conditions did not allow it, but this season, the local organizers are back in the mix.
Although the weather gods did not deliver quite the right conditions ahead of the weekend, which caused the planned qualifications for Friday to be cancelled, all fingers are crossed for the weather to improve and allow for both competitions to take place.
The programme needed to be adapted a bit, so it will be an early bird call on Saturday, when men will start their time trial qualifications at 9:45 CET and women at 10:40 CET, which you can follow as always via FIS App or live timing on the FIS Website.
But let’s take a little look at where we are standing after the Idre Fjäll TRE.
Smith in the lead
It was certainly a great week for Fanny Smith, who had grabbed to win in the Scandinavian resort, which is about to host the FIS Ski and Snowboard Cross World Championships in almost two weeks from now.
Smith set a new all-time record with her 27th World Cup victory this past Sunday and definitely set a historic milestone for ski cross. The Swiss ski cross ace is also the current World Cup leader with a total of 585 points. Making it onto the podium in six out of seven races and claiming four victories explains that huge margin of points.
Sitting 207 points behind Smith is Marielle Thompson, who is chasing to get closer to the leading position. Thompson jumped on the podium five times already this season, but did not manage to take a win so far.
Sitting in third position is Alizee Baron, who made it back on top of the podium on Saturday’s race and then to second position on the following race day. She holds a total of 330 points.
Reece Howden on a winning streak
22-year-old Reece Howden made an impressive statement on the long course of Idre, when he won both races back-to-back, just right in time for the World Championships to be held on this very same track.
In total, Howden claimed four podium spots this season, of which it was one second place and three wins in a row. As the World Cup leader, Howden has 470 points to his name, which is 129 points more than Swiss athlete Ryan Regez, who showed also a very good form at the Idre races, finishing second on Sunday.
Regez surely comes back to Feldberg with some very good memories, as it is the German resort, where he claimed his maiden win in 2019 and jumping on to the podium the very next day as well, finishing third. One could say that it kind of clicked for him after that and he was able to gradually improve his performance, so he will be definitely one to watch here in Feldberg.
It will be interesting to see, if Jean-Frederic Chapuis can go back to winning ways here in Feldberg, as he is the title defender from the last competition that took place here in February 2019. Although Chapuis had some back problems in Idre, it seems that he is back in shape and ready to attack again.
Now, it is time to cross the fingers for some good weather, because that is the only thing that is missing here at the moment. Athletes are ready, course is ready, so hopefully the weather gods will be on our side on the weekend.
Feldberg title defenders from February 2019: Sandra Naeslund (SWE – not competing due to injury) and Jean-Frédéric Chapuis (FRA).
WATCH LIVE
Saturday, Jan 30, at 12:00 CET:
TV: ORF Sport+ (Austria), Eurosport 2 (Asia), Ziggo Sport Extra (The Netherlands), SVT 2 (Sweden)
Livestream: FIS Freestyle Youtube channel (please see countries where the livestream is going to be available HERE), Sportschau Livestream (Germany), CBC Sports Streaming (Canada), Eurosport Player, NBC Olympic Channel
Sunday, Jan 31, at 12:00 CET:
TV: ORF Sport+ (Austria) from 12:40 CET, Eurosport 2 (Asia), Ziggo Sport Extra (The Netherlands)
Livestream: FIS Freestyle Youtube channel (please see countries where the livestream is going to be available HERE), CBC Sports Streaming (Canada), SVT Play, NBC Olympic Channel
QUICK LINKS
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