The first team captains’ meeting marked the official start of the World Cup race week in Val Gardena/Gröden on Monday evening, ahead of the 58th edition of the Audi FIS Ski World Cup.

The Ski World Cup gets underway on Tuesday morning at 11:45 am with the first downhill training run. This session was the main focus of the team captains’ meeting, which was opened by race director Rainer Senoner. Technical delegate Peter Namberger (GER) delivered the official welcome.After a brief overview by Senoner on the work carried out on the Saslong course over recent months, FIS race director Markus Waldner addressed the assembled coaches.

“The weather should be good on Tuesday, with light snowfall forecast for Wednesday, although the Saslong may not be affected. We will know more tomorrow. Fog is also possible, so our full focus will be on Tuesday’s training,” Waldner explained. “We are planning two training runs as originally scheduled. As for the race program, Thursday will feature a sprint downhill, Friday the super-G, and Saturday the classic downhill on the original course.”

The first training session on Tuesday, 16 December, will begin at 11:45 am, opened by Adrian Smiseth Sejersted (NOR). Defending champion Marco Odermatt (SUI) will start with bib number 10, immediately followed by Dominik Paris (ITA). A total of 82 athletes from 19 nations are set to compete.

The complete training start list can be found here.