The 2015/16 edition of the Audi ski cross World Cup season begins December 4-5 in Montafon (AUT) one of five new venues to host World Cup ski cross action this season. With no World Championships this season,and the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games still two years away, it's all about the World Cup and the race for the crystal globe. Several top athletes are returning from injury and a handful of others coming off break-out seasons, the Audi ski cross World Cup tour promises to be compelling, unpredictable, and exciting.
Here we preview the 2015/16 ladies' Audi ski cross World Cup tour.
2015/16 Audi ski cross World Cup Calendar
LAST SEASON:
Top Three:
1 - Anna Holmlund (SWE – 815pts)
2 - Alizee Baron (FRA – 573pts)
3 - Fanny Smith (SUI - 539pts)
(Full list HERE)
World Championships:
Gold - Andrea Limbacher (AUT)
Silver - Ophelie David (FRA)
Bronze - Fanny Smith (SUI)
Rookie of the Year - Debora Pixner (ITA)
The long road back to the top after a catastrophic knee injury was finally completed by Anna Holmlund (SWE) in 2014/15, as the 2010/11 World Cup champion won her second career crystal globe in a dominant performance that saw her finish the season 242 points ahead of Alizee Baron (FRA).
Holmlund suffered a devastating crash before the first event of the 2011/12 season that resulted in tears to her patella tendon, ACL, MCL, and meniscus, keeping her out of competition for an entire year. Upon her return in 2012/13, she struggled to find her confidence, finishing the next two seasons ranked 13th overall.
A bronze-medal performance at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games suggested Holmlund might yet be capable of rediscovering her world-class form, and last season she proved that to be true, skiing an incredibly consistent campaign that saw her finish in the top five in 10 of 11 events – including eight podiums and four victories. With her size, speed, resurgent confidence, and her ability to compete on any course on the World Cup circuit, a healthy Anna Holmlund is a threat to podium in every event and looks poised to again be a major contender.
Second-overall last season was Alizee Baron (FRA) in a breakout year that saw her play a big part in helping the French team to the 2014/15 Audi ski cross Nations Cup, while Kreischberg 2015 Freestyle World Ski Championships bronze medalist Fanny Smith (SUI) took third on the season. Smith actually led the ski cross World Cup through the middle portion of the winter, but a disqualification in Tegernsee, followed by a crash at the first of the final two races in Megeve, knocked her out of the running.
Holmlund could consider herself lucky that 2013/14 crystal globe winner and reigning Olympic gold medalist Marielle Thompson (CAN) went down with a knee injury in the semi-finals at the Kreischberg 2015 World Championship. Thompson had been perfect up to that point, winning all three of the World Cup events before Kreischberg, and she seemed destined to run away with her second-consecutive World Cup title. Instead, she was forced to watch from the sidelines as she rehabbed her damaged meniscus.
Now fully healed, Thompson will be looking to replicate last season's incredible start and reestablish her dominance of the ladies' field.
Also returning this season will be Thompson's teammate and Sochi 2014 silver medalist Kelsey Serwa, who took something of a sabbatical last season to rest nagging injuries and rediscover her passion for the sport.
Other skiers to look out for include Kreischberg 2015 World Champion Andrea Limbacher (AUT), who finished her World Cup season strongly with two second-place finishes in the final three events, and young gun Sandra Naeslund (SWE), who also missed much of last season due to injury but who showed great promise in her 2013/14 “Rookie of the Year” campaign.
Along with Montafon, other new stops on the tour this season include Watles (ITA), Idre (SWE), PyeongChang (KOR), and Squaw Valley (USA). The PyeongChang Olympic test event promises to be a highlight, as it will be the first look the athletes will have of the site of the next Olympic Winter Games.
The World Cup finals in Squaw Valley, USA will provide another highlight. So often in the past the Audi ski cross World Cup comes down to the last heat of the last race in the fight for the crystal globe (the ladies' 2013/14 season), Squaw Valley will also be notable for being the first World Cup ski cross competition to be held on U.S. soil in three seasons. One of the most exciting sports in the world wrapping up the season at one of the most iconic resorts in the USA – what could be better than that?
Source: fis-ski.com
