Green light for the World Cup races in Crans-Montana

Crans-Montana has passed the FIS inspection of the Mont Lachaux piste with flying colours. Two downhills and a super-G are scheduled in two weeks' time in the Valais resort.  

There were no unpleasant surprises: the women's World Cup races in Crans-Montana will take place in two weeks' time - the resort passed the FIS inspection on Saturday morning. Despite the recent rising temperatures in Central Europe, the Mont Lachaux piste is in excellent condition, with 1.5 metres of snow on the entire course. The organisers have been preparing the course for just over a month to ensure everything runs smoothly for the competitions, and this week the safety nets were erected on the piste.

Two downhills and a super-G are programmed in the Valais resort, they promise to provide a spectacular show and in addition the suspense will be building in the race for the crystal globe. Lara Gut-Behrami, Federica Brignone and Sofia Goggia, who have often done well in Crans-Montana in previous editions, will be looking to score valuable points for the overall classification, bearing in mind that it is not yet certain that American Mikaela Shiffrin will have recovered from her fall in Cortina d'Ampezzo last week.

The European Cup first, with Malorie Blanc and Noémie Kolly

Before the World Cup races however, there’s the European Cup. Two downhill races are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. The recently-crowned world junior super-G champion Malorie Blanc and Noémie Kolly will be competing in these two races. The two Swiss-French skiers are also expected to take part in the World Cup in two weeks' time.