With the World Championships of all snowsport disciplines just a matter of weeks away, the competition season is in full swing with more than 30 British skiers and snowboarders competing in World Cup and Europa Cup events over the next three days.
Alpine World Cup, Adelboden SUI – Saturday 12-Sunday 13 January
The men’s alpine World Cup rolls on to Switzerland this week where Dave Ryding again headlines a trio of British skiers in Adelboden.
On Saturday Charlie Raposo will take on the giant slalom, still pushing for his first trip into the World Cup top 30. Some encouraging splits in recent events have the 22-year-old knocking on the door, and a seventh-place finish in a pre-Christmas Europa Cup is one of Raposo’s best-ever results.
Dave Ryding’s recent form is well-reported with a podium finish on New Year’s Day highlighting a run of form which currently sees him sitting fifth on the slalom World Cup standings. The 32-year-old achieved his best result at Adelboden last year when he was 12th and will be hoping to improve on that again on Sunday.
Ryding is joined in the slalom by Laurie Taylor who is undertaking his first full World Cup season. A string of DNFs have marred the 21-year-old’s season and he is targeting a better run of form in the lead-in to next month’s World Championships.
The first run of Saturday’s Giant Slalom will be broadcast on Eurosport Player from 9:20am (GMT) and on Eurosport 1 from 10am. The second run will be available on Eurosport 1 and Eurosport Player from 12:30pm.
Sunday’s Slalom will be broadcast on Eurosport 1 and Eurosport Player from 9:15am (1st run) and 12:15pm (2nd run).
Cross Country World Cup, Dresden GER – Saturday 12-Sunday 13 January
The sprint World Cup in Dresden last year was a highlight of the GB Cross Country season and there are hopes of similarly successful results this weekend.
In 2018, Andrew Young qualified third in the sprint prologue before finishing 13th. James Clugnet – competing in just his second World Cup – then raced with Young in the team sprint the following day, earning a breakthrough top ten result to finish ninth.
Young and Clugnet are back again this year with 22-year-old Clugnet having broken through for his first pair of individual World Cup top-30 results over the past month.
Nichole Bathe and Annika Taylor will fly the flag in the ladies’ races in Dresden. The pair have been training hard and are returning to competitive action following a pre-Christmas Scandinavian Cup race in Sweden where Taylor finished highest with 21st in the sprint.
The Dresden event is arguably the most innovative of the Cross Country World Cup season, raced over a relatively flat man-made course on the banks of the River Elbe.
The knockout stages of Saturday’s individual sprint will be shown on Eurosport Player from 12:10pm (GMT). Sunday’s team sprint will be shown on Eurosport Player from 11:35am and also on Eurosport 2 from midday.
Snowboard World Cup, Kreischberg AUT – Friday 11-Saturday 12 January
Matt McCormick made his slopestyle World Cup debut at Kreischberg two years ago and has only once gone better than the 23rd place he achieved there as a 19-year-old.
In his last slopestyle outing six months ago, McCormick finished on the podium at an event in Australia, however Friday’s competition will mark more than a year before he has participated at a slopestyle World Cup.
The PyeongChang Winter Olympic reserve is the only British snowboarder competing in Kreischberg and is targeting a strong result ahead of next month’s World Championships in Park City, USA.
Qualifying takes place on Friday with the men’s competition starting at 10:15am GMT. Live scoring will be available via the FIS app and website.
The final of the Kreischberg World Cup will be broadcast on the Eurosport Player from 11:30am (GMT) on Saturday.
Moguls World Cup, Calgary CAN – Friday 11-Saturday 12 January
After some breakthrough results in China before Christmas, GB Moguls are in North America for a solid block of World Cup competition ahead of the World Championships.
Following this week’s event in Calgary, the team will then head to Lake Placid before returning to Canada for the third World Cup of the year in Tremblant.
Makayla and Thomas Gerken Schofield have steadily improved this season with career-best results at their last outing in Thaiwoo. After her highest-ever single moguls World Cup finish in Ruka (21st), Makayla improved to 14th in China before backing it up in the dual moguls with 12th. Thomas earned his first World Cup points in Thaiwoo by making it through the first two rounds of the dual moguls before being defeated by the Olympic silver medallist.
The siblings will be joined in Calgary by the Willis brothers, Max and Wil. Max earned his best-ever World Cup result at this venue twelve months ago when he finished 21st, and he comes into the event having been the highest British finisher in the men’s single moguls in China where he earned World Cup points from his 25th place. Wil Willis has never competed in North America and will be looking to improve on his individual result from China where he failed to finish his run.
Men’s qualifying begins at Friday 7:25pm, and ladies’ qualifying is at Saturday 6pm; live scoring will be available on the FIS app and website.
The finals of the Moguls World Cup will be broadcast on Eurosport Player and Eurosport 2 from 8:20pm (GMT) on Saturday night.
Para Nordic World Cup, Östersund SWE – Saturday 12 to Saturday 19 January
The second Para Nordic World Cup of the season sees a six-strong team of British skiers taking to their final major competition ahead of the World Championships.
PyeongChang Paralympian Scott Meenagh again leads the team after some strong results last month in Finland. Over the course of the next week, Meenagh – along with Steve Arnold – will contest every individual cross country and biathlon event, comprising five races in just seven days.
Steve Thomas, Callum Deboys and Rachel Morris all made their World Cup debuts in December and head to Östersund planning to compete in the long distance, middle distance and sprint cross country races. 1998 Paralympian Terry Ahrens will also be in Sweden competing in a combination of cross country and biathlon races.
Results from Östersund will be available via the World Para Nordic website: https://www.paralympic.org/nordic-skiing/calendar-results
Snowboard Cross Europa Cup, Puy St Vincent FRA – Sat 12-Sun 13 January
One of the final snowboard cross events before the World Championships takes place in Puy St Vincent this weekend where Charlotte Bankes will be looking to continue her impressive early-season form.
Bankes, who has a World Cup podium and Europa Cup victory from her first events of the year, will be racing in France for the first time since moving away from the French team earlier this season to now represent Great Britain. The 23-year-old has an incredible Europa Cup record with 14 wins from 30 races including four wins at Puy St Vincent.
She is joined in the ladies’ event by Maisie Potter who is competing in her third event of the season after a heel injury took her out of action for almost twelve months.
Kyle Wise and Chris Gregory will compete in the men’s event with Wise first racing Europa Cup at this venue more than seven years ago. His best result at Puy St Vincent is 38th and he is hopeful of finding the form which earned him a career-best 15th at a Europa Cup in Austria nearly four years ago. Gregory competed at his first Europa Cup in November with the experience gained there expected to give the 28-year-old more confidence this weekend.
The Puy St Vincent snowboard cross Europa Cup features two races over Saturday and Sunday with results available on the FIS app and website.
Ski Cross Europa Cup, Villars SUI – Friday 11 January
A large contingent from the GB Ski & Snowboard Cross Squad will be in action tomorrow at the Europa Cup in Switzerland with an Olympian and a Junior World Champion leading the charge.
PyeongChang 2018 representative Emily Sarsfield is one of seven athletes competing in the ladies draw at Villars. She is joined by fellow World Cup representatives Liz Stevenson and Emma Peters along with Zoe and Claire Winthrop, Faith Davie and Alannah Lawrie.
Ollie Davies is still looking for a breakthrough result at World Cup level but will be targetting for a strong result in Villars after reaching the Europa Cup podium in France last season. Mathi Avent and Richard Goldsworthy both reached FIS podiums in Sweden last month and will be competing alongside Davies and fellow Brit Laurence Willows.
The Europa Cup event begins at Friday 9:50am (GMT) with results available on the FIS app and website.
