Today, FIS carried out its annual summer inspection visit in Val Gardena/Gröden. The two race directors Markus Waldner and Hannes Trinkl looked back on the 2017 races and took a close look at the Saslong course. It was announced that the race will start this year at 11:45 am and not at 12:15 pm as in the past.

The Organizing Committee was represented by President and Race Director Rainer Senoner and by Course Director Horst Demetz. Also present were TV director Sandro De Manincor and Armando Carenini as representative of the marketing agency Infront.

In order to ensure better visibility on television, the start time of the downhill has been preponed by half an hour. The first runner will start at 11:45 am on 15 December. Friday’s super-G will start as before, at 12:15 pm while the training runs on Wednesday and Thursday will reflect the new downhill start time.

The only innovation on the race track is a tunnel under the lower part of the Ciaslat meadows. There the race track is now crossed by an underground access road. Furthermore, past races were discussed and once again safety aspects were examined. The FIS representatives were also informed about a new highlight of the race week: on Thursday evening there will be a public bib number draw for the super-G in Selva/Wolkenstein. Friday evening will again be celebrated in Ortisei/St.Ulrich and has the super-G award ceremony and bib number draw for the downhill on the agenda.

All further information about the race and the possibility to buy tickets can be found at www.saslong.org.