There are any number of reasons of interest for the twentieth edition of the slalom of the Val di Fassa European Cup, scheduled for Friday 16 December on the slope of the Skistadium Aloch, with the 11th Memorial Elke Pastore up for grabs.
Heading the list of entrants is French Olympic Champion, Clement Noel, who dominated the last two challenges and intends to get closer to the Swede Mattias Hargin, the only skier who has won four times in San Giovanni di Fassa and to separate himself from Swede Jens Byggmark and Austrian Manfred Pranger, both with two successes.
Then there are the group of Italian skiers eager to leave their mark in a race where the tricolor is only waved on two occasions: in 2018 with Stefano Gross and in 2020 with Tommaso Sala. Above all, Alex Vinatzer from Val Gardena, more than ever determined to leave his mark in this difficult start of the season, and again the local athlete Stefano Gross and the timeless Giuliano Razzoli who seems to have solved his back problem, and Tommaso Sala from Lecco which is in great shape.
We cannot forget Tobias Kastlunger, back from an extraordinary tenth place comeback in the Val d'Isere World Cup slalom and again competing on the track that gave him a medal at the 2019 junior world championships.
Then there is the affective aspect, with the two Trentino athletes Federico Liberatore who wants to return as soon as possible to skiing that counts and wants to perform at a level in front of his home crowd, then Davide Seppi from Fiemme who aims to climb the ranking.
Among the 120 entries representing 26 nations, there are also outsiders such as the Bulgarian Albert Popov, eleventh in Val d'Isere, the American Benjamin Ritchie, British racer Laurie Taylor and the Croatian Samuel Kolega and the young Austrians, French and Swiss always ready to amaze.
An event therefore not to be missed and to be experienced firsthand in the parterre of the Aloch slope, or by following the live streaming of both heats on the www.sportcultura.tv channel with the technical commentary of the former Italian and winner of the Coppa del World of Lienz 2007 Chiara Costazza.
The program includes the first run at 9 (uk time), the second at 12 (uk time).
The organizers of the Ski Team Fassa have worked tirelessly these days by meticulously barring the slope of the Aloch slope, which also hosted the 2013 Universiade and the 2019 junior world championships, and which has a length of 982 meters and a vertical drop of 208 meters, starting at an altitude of 1690 and finishing at 1330 meters and with a maximum gradient of 49%.
Picture Laurie Taylor competing at Val d'Isere by Zoom Agence