Bannoye set to host back-to-back World Cup competitions
Feb 05, 2021·Alpine Snowboard
Straight from an exciting nighttime city event in Moscow, the FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup is back in action again this weekend at another Russian venue, this time in Bannoye, where back-to-back days of competition will see parallel giant slalom action on Saturday and parallel slalom on Sunday.
Located in the southern Ural Mountains on the shores of Lake Bannoye, some 1,600kms east of Moscow, Bannoye is a small but well-loved ski resort that will be hosting its second World Cup event. Last year the resort hosted very successful season-opening event, while the organisers in Russia proved themselves to be some of the very best in the world. Again this year with a highly-committed team on hand, a top-notch piste, and favourable snow conditions, all the pieces are in place for another thrilling showcase of top-tier snowboard racing.
The World Cup event in Bannoye will kick off on Saturday with PGS competitions. Qualifications are set to begin at 9:15 local time (5:15 CET) with finals following up later in the afternoon at 13:00 (9:00 CET). PGS competitions will take place on Sunday following the same programme with qualifications starting at 9:15 and finals kicking off at 13:00.
Starting on the women’s side of the event keep a close eye on Russia’s own Sofia Nadyrshina, as the 17-year-old has been in excellent form lately and is coming straight off two victories and a second place finish in her last three World Cup competitions. Consequently, Nadyrshina is coming into Bannoye’s event as the parallel slalom and parallel overall World Cup leader.
Besides Nadyrshina, also count on Germany’s Ramona Theresia Hofmeister, who won the previous PGS event here in Bannoye on her way to claim two crystal globes at the end of last season. Hofmeister is currently once again leading the 2020/21 PGS World Cup standings with top-3 results in four out of five individual events, which means it’s fair to expect the German rider to be a threat for a spot on the podium in both parallel slalom and parallel giant slalom in this weekend’s Bannoye competitions.
Going further down the starting list let’s not forget about Hofmeister’s teammates from the German Snowboard Team, Selina Joerg and Chayenne Loch, the respective number three and four in the parallel overall standing.
Down in fifth place sits Julie Zogg (SUI), who won the PSL competition in Bannoye last season, with Ladina Jenny (SUI), Daniela Ulbing (AUT), Patrizia Kummer (SUI), Carolin Langenhorst (GER) and Claudia Riegler (AUT) rounding out the top-10, respectively, while also expected to be among favourites for top-3 result in Russia.
Moving into men’s part of competitions in Bannoye, it’s Italy’s Aaron March, who will enter competition leading both parallel slalom and parallel overall World Cup ranking, showcasing a very stable form in both disciplines. So far in the 2020/21 campaign March has managed to earn a second place in Cortina PGS, which he would followed up with a huge victory in the Bad Gastein PSL event.
Certainly March will be looking to add some more good results this weekend, but the competition will be extremely tough in both PGS and PSL races. When looking for top dogs in the men’s field, aside from the afore-mentioned March, also count on the Austrian trio of Benjamin Karl, Andreas Prommegger and Alexander Payer. Karl is leading the way in PGS with Prommegger following up in third place, while Payer showed some promising riding in Bad Gastein and Moscow and is currently sitting in third place in PSL World Cup ranking.
Besides the Austrians, March will also have a strong competition from the likes of his own teammates, with Rolland Fischnaller, Daniele Bagozza and Edwin Coratti also well-placed in the World Cup top-10 so far in the season.
Let’s not forget about the host nation’s squad, who will be represented in Bannoye by last week’s winner from Moscow Dmitriy Karlagachev as well as Igor Sluev, Andrey Sobolev and Dmitry Loginov, who have been also showing some solid riding throughout the season. And since none of the Russian athletes managed to get on the podium at Bannoye’s World Cup debut in December 2019, we’re sure that the home turf factor will motivate the Russian squad to give their best this weekend.
Last, but not least throw in the likes of Daro Caviezel and Nevin Galmarini of Switzerland, Stefan Baumeister of Germany, or Zan Kosir and Tim Mastnak of Slovenia and all of a sudden it’s looking like it might be anyone’s game on Saturday and Sunday. And with such a stacked field of riders all clearly rounding into midseason form as we hit competition in Bannoye, those two World Cup showdowns are shaping up to be exciting ones indeed.
WATCH LIVE
Saturday PGS
Eurosport player (Europe & Asia), ORF Sport+ (Austria), BNT 3 (Bulgaria), CBC streaming (Canada), Polsat Sports News (Poland), SLO 2 (Slovenia)
Sunday PSL
Eurosport player (Europe & Asia), ORF Sport+ (Austria), BNT 3 (Bulgaria), CBC streaming (Canada), TV2 SPXRT (Denmark), Polsat Sports News (Poland), SLO 2 (Slovenia)
Live streaming will also be available on our Youtube channel here: PGS & PSL. Please note that due to broadcasting rights restrictions, live streaming may not be available in your region. Full list of countries with the live streaming available can be found HERE.
QUICK LINKS
Bannoye World Cup data page (startlists, live timing, results)
