World Cup, Val di Fassa gets underway
Val di Fassa is ready for its third Women's World Cup appearance, and this time all the signs point to a full weekend of top-level racing on La VolatA. The first edition in 2021 took place in sunny conditions and in the unusual atmosphere of the post-Cortina World Championships period, with no spectators due to Covid restrictions. On that occasion, Lara Gut-Behrami and Federica Brignone were the standout names. In 2024, the Local Organising Committee worked around the clock in an attempt to deliver the scheduled super-G races, but heavy snowfall forced cancellation.
Now the World Cup returns to Val di Fassa with a promising weather forecast and a programme featuring two downhills and one super-G.
Friday 6 March opens with the downhill replacing the cancelled Crans-Montana race, followed by a second downhill on Saturday 7 March and a super-G on Sunday 8 March. The races will be held on a slope well known to the Italian team. La VolatA is part of the Piste Azzurre project, through which Val di Fassa serves as an official training centre for the Italian Winter Sports Federation.
In Thursday's second training run, Austria's Nina Ortlieb set the pace in 1:22.24. Norway's Kajsa Vickhoff Lie was second, 0.18 seconds back, followed by Italians Nadia Delago at +0.22 and Laura Pirovano at +0.31. Delago has already claimed European Cup podium finishes on this slope, while Pirovano is chasing a first major result at World Cup level.
“La VolatA is one of my favourite slopes,” said Pirovano. “It is very technical and has everything - speed, terrain changes, demanding lines, a tough steep section and a flowing finish. I've always skied well in Val di Fassa and I really hope these three days can bring a great result.”
Czech racer Ester Ledecká posted the fifth-fastest time, while Sofia Goggia, currently fourth in the downhill standings, finished eighth at +0.67. Among the other Italians, Nicol Delago placed 16th, Asja Zenere 20th, Elena Curtoni 25th, Sara Allemand 36th and Sara Thaler also 36th.
Friday's downhill is scheduled to start at 11:30 CET, with 55 athletes in the field and valuable points up for grabs in both the overall and downhill standings.
Ilka Štuhec will start with bib 1, followed by Marte Monsen with 2, Elena Curtoni with 3, Nicol Delago with 6, Kira Weidle-Winkelmann with 7, Laura Pirovano with 8, Olympic champion Breezy Johnson with 9, Emma Aicher with 11, Sofia Goggia with 15, Nadia Delago with 25, Sara Thaler with 35, Roberta Melesi with 39, Sara Allemand with 44 and Asja Zenere with 51.
