Russian ransom during the second European Cup Super-G on the slope La VolatA in the ski area San Pellegrino. After ranking second the previous day, Julia Pleshkova has been able to stop the clock at 1’14”68 and to win the race with a great performance, on the same track of the World Cup.
But the merry surprise has made Italy happy, thanks to the 26-year-old skier from Monte San Pietro, Karoline Pichler, able to understand the track drawn by the French coach Emilien Astier, and to conclude the race second, behind by no more than 11 hundredths.
A great performance for the athlete of the Fiamme Oro, who has demonstrated to be determined and fluid in her action, brushing even the victory.
On the third stage of the podium, the Austrian Sabrina Maier, behind the South-Tyrolean athlete by 14 hundredths. But that’s not all, as the athlete from Gardena Nadia Delago has demonstrated to appreciate the slope very much (where she had already won once in the European Cup and had ranked second in 2019), improving from the first race of Tuesday and concluding fourth by 48 hundredths from the podium.
Behind them, the Austrian Nadine Fest, the Swiss Stephanie Jenal (sixth) who has nibbled important points from her teammate Jasmina Suter (eighth at the arrival) and now the two athletes in the general ranking of the Super-G are detached by 2 points only: 252 Jasmina and 250 Stephanie.
Speaking about the Italians, Jole Galli has ranked 28th, Vicky Bernardi 30th, Federica Sosio 36th, Ilaria Ghisalberti 38th, Vittoria Capellini 40th, Elisa Schranzhofer 43rd. Amelia Rigatti Di Grazia has ranked 71st.
Double victory among the U18 for the Austrian Ranalter Magdalena, born in 2003 and recovering in the general ranking. Among the juniors, the best has been the Austrian Magdalena Egger (seventh in the all-ranking), then the Swiss Delia Durrer and the Austrian Emily Schoepf.

Switzerland confirms its supremacy in the speed events and seems to have found a particular feeling with the slope La VolatA. After Lara Gut-Berhami’s last week-end victories in the World Cup downhill races, which have marked the debut of Val di Fassa and of the ski area San Pellegrino, Jasmina Suter has won the first of the two European Cup Super-G races, scheduled on the same slope that hosted Federica Brignone’s victory on Sunday.

Another beautiful sunny day has greeted 91 athletes from 18 countries, who have competed on the course set by the Italian national team coach Daniel Dorigo. Rainer Senoner was on slope as FIS technical delegate, assisted by the race director Marco Costazza, while the race was organized by the expert staff of the Ski Team Fassa.

The first of the two SuperG has been won by the Swiss Jasmina Suter (1'13."78), at her second victory in the continental circuit, who has also conquered the top of the Super G ranking with 220 points, 10 points more than her teammate Stephanie Jenal (210), who today ranked 3^rd, behind her compatriot by 65 hundredths.

In-between the two, by 63 hundredths, a surprising performance of the Russian Julia Pleshkova, who has conquered her first European Cup podium.

The best among the Italian athletes has been Nadia Delago, who has conquered a respectful eighth place (at 1"41) starting with bib 41. The other South-Tyrolean athlete Karoline Pichler has been the first at the gate and ranked 15th, while Jole Galli has ranked 27^th behind by 3 seconds and 1 hundredths, followed by Teresa Runggaldier - who follows her father’s footsteps - who has ranked 32nd, and by Vittoria Capellini, 37th with bib number 87. The Austrian Magdalena Ranalter, born in 2003, has ranked first among the under 18.

Tomorrow another SuperG, also valid for the European Cup, will take place on La VolatA.

The debut of the Val di Fassa in the Ski World Cup has been a positive one. The resort had been asked to replace the women races cancelled in Yanqing and then also the one scheduled in St. Moritz and first and in Garmisch-Partenkirchen afterwards, during a 5-day event that began on Wednesday, February 24th and came to an end on Sunday, February 28th and has collected positive feedbacks both from the 15 national teams taking part in the races and from FIS and FISI. The event, moreover, has ensured a huge media coverage to the whole area. Icing on the cake has been brought by the first seasonal victory of Federica Brignone and by the achievement of the Super-G World Cup by Lara Gut-Behrami, after the extraordinary two victories in the downhill races, which have brought her on top of the World Cup overall ranking list.

Andrea Weiss, president of the Organising Committee, has been the first to take stock: “The evaluation is positive, no doubt, this was an important test for us to obtain accreditation in the World Cup circuit, taking advantage of this opportunity that we have been given and that we have been able to make true in just 80 days. And this is why we must thank over 250 people who have committed themselves during these days to put on stage our skills. No doubt, the professionalism inherited from several years of European Cup races by the Ski Team Fassa - headed by Leonardo Bernard ( with the help of the two other ski clubs Monti Pallidi and Fassactive) and above all on occasion of the lucky edition of the 2019 Junior World Ski Championships that had a valuable team and was guided by Davide Moser (who has an important role in this team too), have given us the possibility to face in the best way this first challenge in the top circuit. Also essential has been the collaboration of the ski area San Pellegrino with Mauro Vendruscolo, Renzo Minella and Mattia Giongo, as well as the fundamental work done by the event manager Cristoforo Debertol. I am also pleased to highlight the precious role of the race director, Rainer Senoner, and of the race judge Lorenzo Conci, who have come from Val Gardena and from Trentino to make their significant expertise in the World Cup races at our disposal for this new organisation”.

Something to smile for in this difficult year for the mountain universe: “ This success brings a bit of satisfaction in a complicated year to our community. Due to the pandemic we have gained an opportunity that we have been chasing for 30 years and several volunteers have answered to our call to ensure a positive outcome of the event, being home from the work. And the biggest acknowledgement goes to their extraordinary helpfulness».

Which the first comments? “I have collected satisfied reports - Weiss goes on -. This debut has ensured us the acknowledgement from the national teams and from FIS and we are very happy about this. The three days have even come to an end with the victory of an Italian athlete, which is strategic from a communicative point of view. We have been very sorry for the two injured athletes in the Super G, Kajsa Vickhoff Lie and the Austrian Rosina Schneeberger, who have both gone already under surgery in Innsbruck. On behalf of the whole Val di Fassa, I wish them a quick recovery, we hope to see them soon again on our slopes».

And now? “First we have to keep together the staff and the people who have committed to the event, and we have to confirm our availability both to the FISI president Flavio Roda and to the president of FISI Trentino Tiziano Mellarini, as well as to the International Ski Federation, with which we will talk very soon. On Tuesday, March 2nd and on Wednesday, March 3rd, already, we will host two European Cup Super G on La VolatA”.

Satisfaction from Peter Gerdol (FIS) too

At the end of the event, also the World Cup director Peter Gerdol has had positive words: “It is never easy to debut in this circuit for an organising committee, especially when you have to set everything in two months. We at FIS are very satisfied of the organizational machine of the Val di Fassa, our evaluation is really positive. Everything worked. Of course, there are some small details that needs to be improved and we will analyse them with the friends from Val di Fassa at the end of the season, during a dedicated briefing. But we are very satisfied, both from the technical and from the logistic side. For sure, the wonderful weather and the lack of public have helped”.

Which could be the future of the Val di Fassa in the World Cup? “The World Cup calendars are scheduled up to 2024 - Gerdol says. - but these are drafts, which were rarely changed in the past. But the current situation could bring some changes.

An extraordinary media coverage

These three days of World Cup have brought a huge media coverage, also thanks to Federica Brignone’s victory. 16 international TVs have passed the races, and several sport and general news of the main channels have spoken about this sport weekend in Val di Fassa, in Trentino. The races have reached China, the States, Asia, Canada.

On the spot, 30 accredited journalists from the main sport journals, websites and TV: in addition to the numerous Italian professionals, there were Swiss and Austrian colleagues, but also some professionals from France, Germany, UK, Slovenia and Czech Republic.