The Austrians "rock" the Gran Becca: Christina Ager achieves best time in the second downhill training
After the cancellation of Wednesday's training session, the time had come on Thursday: the world's best downhill skiers were able to celebrate their premiere on the "Gran Becca". Despite the large amount of fresh snow and the wind, the "Gran Becca" was in very good condition. The Austrian Christina Ager set a best time of 1:35.81. The athletes were very impressed with the first training run in the finish area afterwards.
Ager's team-mate Emily Schöpf (+0.24) followed in second place and the training podium was completed by German athlete Kira Weidle (+0.77).
The best Swiss athlete was Corinne Suter in 5th place (+0.93). Michelle Gisin followed in 11th place (+1.62) and Delia Durrer in 17th place (+2.06). Suter said afterwards in the finish area: "It was really cool and I really like the course. It's very important to keep up the pace as well as possible after the steep start section. After that, you can't stray from the racing line."
Sofia Goggia, the downhill dominator of recent years, finished in 6th place with a deficit of +1.27, making her the fastest Italian. The 31-year-old visibly felt at ease in the finish area and waved conspicuously often to the Italian home crowd. Goggia said: "I was surprised by the course layout in the top section. I really like the "Gran Becca" and I hope that the snow conditions will become a little more compact."
School classes from Cervinia sat in the grandstand, which was well attended for a training run, and created a great atmosphere. Other Italians followed with Nicol Delago in 9th place (+1.46), Federica Brignone in 16th place (+2.04) and Vicky Bernardi in 19th place (+2.27).
As always with pre-race training sessions, the results and time gaps should be treated with caution. The detailed results of the first training session are available at the following link: live.fis-ski.com.
Limited number of tickets and Sunrise Fan Zone
Tickets for the two women's race days at the Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening are available at www.speedopening.com. A good two-thirds of the downhill course can be seen from the finish stands as well as from the "Cime Bianche Corner" in the finish area in "Laghi Cime Bianche", which is not the case at any other World Cup race.
Due to the limited spectator capacity in the finish area, the "Sunrise Fanzone" will be set up on Testa Grigia near the national border with a video wall, race commentary and catering facilities. Admission is free, but a mountain railway ticket is required.
Media contact Switzerland
Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening
Media Office
David Taugwalder
E-mail: media@speedopening.com
Mobile: +41(0)79 847 39 89
Media contact Italy
Matterhorn Cervino Speed Opening
Media Office
Andrea Chiericato
E-mail: media@speedopening.com
Mobile: +39 339 865 49 43