Matteo Marsaglia from Italy is opening today’s Super-G at 12:15 am on the Saslong. Christof Innerhofer (3) and Werner Heel (5) are the other two top Italian skiers with low starting bibs. Top favorite Kjetil Jansrud (NOR) will start with number 20.

Steven Nyman has done it again: after capturing gold in 2006 and 2012, the US boy wins his third World Cup title and also third Val Gardena/Gröden podium on the Saslong. Nobody even came close to his performance, with the exception of current World Cup Downhill dominator Kjetil Jansrud (NOR, +0.31). Third place goes to local favorite Dominik Paris (ITA, +1.15).

Val Gardena/Gröden’s classic World Cup Downhill will take place today, Friday (12/19) and not on Saturday, as usual. The race is starting at 12:15 pm with Jan Hudec from Canada; the training run’s fastest Steven Nyman from USA starts with number 7 and Dominik Paris, a local favorite, with number 16.

Steven Nyman (USA) has lived up to his reputation as a Val Gardena/Gröden specialist. The two-times winner (2006, 2012) is the only racer who clocked a time below 2 minutes (1:59.98 min). He is followed by Kjetil Jansrud (NOR, +0.16 seconds’’) and - a little surprisingly - Tobias Stechert (GER, +0.54 seconds).

The second training run originally scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, has been cancelled after today’s first training run for the World Cup Downhill to give the track a rest ahead of the races on Friday (Downhill) and Saturday (Super-G).

“Tougher than ever� is how Manuel Osborne-Paradis aptly put his view on the conditions of the 2014 World Cup course in Val Gardena/Gröden. And he knows what he’s talking about, having always been one of the fastest ones here. This is what the racers had to say.

Silvano Varettoni will be opening the first official training run on the Saslong.

The change in the program (Downhill on Friday, Super-G on Saturday) has no impact on purchased tickets. They continue to be valid for the day for which they were purchased. 

The ski World Cup circuit has arrived in Val Gardena/Gröden and has been met by a ready-to-race Saslong in (almost) perfect conditions. This evening, FIS Race Director Markus Waldner announced to the coaches that both training runs are taking place, the Downhill is moving to Friday and the Super-G to Saturday.

Markus Waldner is the new FIS Race Director. The South-Tyrol-native is following into the foot steps of Günter Hujara and is kicking off this role with his first “home game� at the World Cup races in Val Gardena/Gröden. Mr. Waldner has already made a great impression.

FIS Race Director Helmuth Schmalzl has performed the so-called snow check on the Saslong this morning along with Val Gardena/Gröden Race Director Rainer Senoner and Course Director Horst Demetz.

Races presented in Bolzano/Bozen - The Ski World Cup races in South Tyrol were formally presented at a press conference in Bolzano/Bozen today.

After 28 years, Erich Demetz chaired his last meeting as the Chairman of the FIS Sub-Committee for the Alpine World Cup during the FIS Congress week in Barcelona (SPA). In recognition of his outstanding services and commitment to the sport of skiing, he was named as FIS Honorary Member at the final day of the Congress.

Sochi Super-G Medallists:
A. Weibrecht (2nd), K. Jansrud (1st), J. Hudec (3rd) - B. Miller (3rd).

Podium Men's SC Sochi 2014: Ivica Kostelic (2.), Sandro Viletta (1.), Christof Innerhofer (3.)

Congratulations to All of You!

Nicola Rota from Italy wins the 1st Raiffeisen Sochers FIS Challenge Night Race in Val Gardena/Gröden amidst strong snow falls. The 23-year-old concluded yesterday’s night slalom on Ciampinoi with a cumulative time of 1:40.69 seconds.

The Saslong Classic Club Gardena/Gröden, host of the annual Ski World Cup races on the Saslong course, is organizing the 1st Raiffeisen Sochers FIS Challenge Night Race on Thursday, January 30. This will be a FIS night slalom for youth skiers as part of the Grand Prix Italia race series.

Val Gardena/Gröden (South Tyrol/Italy), December 23rd, 2013 -  A record number of spectators, great weather, a forerunner with deep course knowledge and two winners who are linked through a training partnership: these are the stories that emerged from the 2013 World Cup week in the valley.

A perfectly executed bottom half of the race is what helped Erik Guay (CAN) win the race on the Saslong. After lagging by 9/100 secs at the top, he managed to finish the race with an advantage of 12/secs ahead of Kjetil Jansrud (NOR). Third place went to Johan Clarey (FRA, +24/100 secs). Our top contender and Super-G winner Aksel Lund Svindal did not manage a victory or even a podium on the Saslong today.