7 dic 20202 Min. de lectura

Men's Val d'Isere Speed Weekend Preview

Due to lack of snow and unusually warm temperatures, the Men's Audi FIS Ski World Cup Giant Slalom events scheduled in Val d'Isère (France) were canceled and rescheduled in Santa Caterina (ITA) last weekend. But following the snow control carried out on Tuesday, December 1st, the French resort of Val d’Isère has been confirmed to host the first speed races of the season, a Downhill, and a Super-G, this weekend. As scheduled, the races will take place on 12th - 13th December 2020.

Val d'Isère is a high altitude village located in the Savoie, recognizable by its charming Chalet architecture. In 1936, the Rogoney, the resort's first drag lift at the bottom of Solaise came into operation.

Val d'Isere offers skiers one of the most incredible Ski Paradises in the Alps: the Espace Killy, the Val d'Isere and Tignes combined skiing area, named in honor of Jean-Claude Killy, all-time French best skier who won 3 gold medals in the 1968 Olympic games. A playground for every skier that stretches from 1550 to 3450m, with 300km of prepared pistes and two glaciers (Pissaillas Glacier in Val d'Isere and the Grande Motte in Tignes) as well as some magnificent and easily accessible off-piste opportunities.

The resort hosts every year Men's and Women's races of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. The men's Downhill, Super-G, and Giant Slalom of the 1992 Albertville Olympic Winter Games were held on the Face de Bellevarde. The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2009 were also held in Val d'Isère.

This winter "The Critérium de la Première Neige à Val d'Isère" celebrates its 65th anniversary. The first edition of the event took place in 1955. The Criterium was formally adopted by the FIS in December 1968, and since then the event is a key stop on the Alpine Skiing World Cup calendar.

For the second time since 2007, Men will race WC speed events on the Oreiller-Killy course (also called the O.-K. slope). The piste was created in 1966, above the hamlet of La Daille. It bears the name of two Olympic champions, Henri Oreiller and Jean-Claude Killy.

The last time the speed events were held in the French resort was 2016.

Then, on a track “O-K” remarkably fast and under a generous sun, Kjetil Jansrud claimed the top step on the podium two times in a row.

On December 2, Jansrud won the Super-G race held on the "O-K" course with a winning time of 1:21.66 seconds. Following Jansrud in second place was his countrymen, Aksel Lund Svindal (+ 0.17). Italy's Dominik Paris completed the podium, 0.41 seconds off.

The next day, in the first Downhill of the season, he crossed the finish line 0.26 seconds ahead of Peter Fill and 0.33 ahead of Aksel Lund Svindal.