Val Thorens ready to kick-off the FIS Ski Cross World Cup season with back-to-back races
Dec 07, 2022·Ski Cross
The FIS Ski Cross World Cup season starts in the French Alpes at an altitude of 2300m, the highest ski resort in Europe – Val Thorens, where the best ski cross athletes are coming down the fast, big and technical course named after Val Thorens’s most successful ski cross athlete and Sochi 2014 Olympic Champion – Jean-Frederic Chapuis from 06 – 09 December 2022.
The snow-covered resort Val Thorens hosts back-to-back races and kicks-off an intense ski cross phase before Christmas, consisting of 5 competitions within 15 days and three countries.
Whom to watch on the women’s side
Looking back at Val Thorens’s past results dating back to 2012, where the most decorated ski cross athlete Fanny Smith of Switzerland won the first competition and a total of three times on the French course so far, there are actually two other women leading the list of most wins in Val Thorens. Both, Sweden’s 2022 Olympic gold medalist Sandra Naeslund and Canada’s 2022 Olympic silver medalist Marielle Thompson can already count four wins on this challenging course.
Next to our three SX Overall World Cup winners from 2021/22 we can also expect to see the French skiers like Marielle Berger Sabbatel or Jade Grillet-Aubert, or one of the other strong Canadian women, like Courtney Hoffos for instance, who took her back-to-back maiden World Cup podiums here in Val Thorens in 2019, to battle for the podium.
Strong field on the men’s side leaves the speculation on the podium spots more open
Looking over on the men’s side of things, the list of winners in Val Thorens couldn’t be more mixed up. We have ex Canadian, now American veteran Chris Del Bosco in the lead with two wins. Other than Chris, there were different winners each race, which makes for a beautiful mixed list of victories.
What we can say though is that Canada counts the most wins. A total of six times a Canadian athlete stood at the top of the podium, making it the number one nation of winners here in Val Thorens. Looking on the most podiums, it`s France who can already count 15 podiums over the last ten years, which also makes them a nation we can count on for a spot on the podium in Val Thorens.
It is Swiss Olympic silver medalist, Alex Fiva, who is entering the competition as title defender. It was his only win he achieved last season, so let’s see if he is able to repeat his performance.
Val Thorens title defenders from December 2022: Sandra Naeslund (SWE) and Alex Fiva (SUI).
So let`s hope that the weather will look better than expected and we will see some good and fair racing here in Val Thorens (FRA).
The first Qualification goes down on Tuesday, 06 December at 11:45 CET for the first race on Thursday and the second Qualification goes down on Wednesday, 07 December at 11:45 CET for the second competition on Friday. As usual, you can follow live on our website or via FIS APP.
Finals are set for Thursday, 08 December at 11:00 CET and Friday, 09 December also at 11:00 CET.
Live on TV 08.12.:
Euosport (Asia), Eurosport 1 (Europe), ORF Sport + (AUT), CZ Sport (Czech Republic), V Sport Vinter (FIN), L'Equipe (FRA), Rai Sport (ITA), Ziggo 14 (NED), V Sport + (NOR), Polsat Sport extra (POL), C Sport Vinter (SWE), SRF Zwei (SUI)
Live on TV 09.12.:
Eurosport 2 (Europe), ORF Sport + (AUT), CZ Sport (Czech Republic), V Sport 2 (FIN), L'Equipe (FRA), V Sport + (NOR), Polsat Sport News (POL), C Sport Vinter (SWE), SRF Zwei (SUI)
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