Sunshine, eventually, made its way to the Pyrenees, for the last race of the French week end.
On stage the first sprints of the year. Anticipation was big for the fastest of the disciplines of ISMF world Cup. Loads of powder, low temperature and a crystal clear sky: along the track course, shade and light were playing “hide and seek” as the qualifications went by. Some 56 gentlemen and 28 ladies were in the starting list. «We are glad that the world Cup stopped in Cambre D’Aze – they say by the Loc – organizing committee – even if we wished to show more of our ski resort. The big snowfall, though, made it impossible to go higher and further outside the piste areas». Looking back at the last year ranking, when Italian Antonioli prevailed on German Palzer and Swiss Arnold, we can say that the games remained almost the same, apart from Palzer who did not take part to any of the week end races, due to an heavy flue: “ I am young, it is a pity for the world Cup ranking, but I really need some rest, as one of my goal are the Champs in Italy”. The final victory went to the swiss Iwan Arnold, at his first, most longed, win of the career. Italian Robert Antonioli was third. So in the middle it was another Swiss to find his way to the podium: Andreas Steindler put down a solid race with no fear of any competitors. It was not easy to find the right strategy: with a lot of fresh snow, creating bumps and tricky turns, any qualification segment was everything but a game. “Very selective a sprint” was also the common impression delivered by the women who went directly to a very tight semi final, after the first runs of the qualifications. One Spaniard, one Swedish, two Swiss and two French ladies were the happy few contestants. The transitions areas turned out to be the key point of the race for many ladies. Looking at last year ranking, with record woman Roux in the lead, followed by Garcia Farres and Galicia Cotrina form Spain, you could expect a very tight battle among those ladies. And so it was: the final descent gave a great suspence to the audience as Claudia Galicia Cotrina from Spain started her way down in the lead. At the very last turn before the skating up to the finish line, Laetitia Roux gave full gas and made it to overcame the colleague just few metres before the finish, getting her second victory in a row for the week end. Deborah Chiarello from Switzerland completed the podium, confirming the good shape and positive trend of the whole Swiss team who manged to put three athletes on the sprint podium.
QUOTES
Laetitia Roux (FRA) – “It was a beautiful race and a long sprint, compared to the standards. The way I won boosts my confidence for the future. Now I am really looking forward to the stage in Turkey because new places always give me different motivations”.
Arnlold Iwan (SUI): “It is emotional to get the first victory in a sprint world Cup. I think I made a solid run and I see we are all going in the right direction because competition in our team turned out to be a good key to be successful”.
For results http://ismf-ski.org/www/content/races-result?id=171
http://ismf-ski.org/www/content/rankings-podiums
For more info on the resort www.cambre-d-aze.com
