The Team Captains' Meeting at the House of Culture in Selva/Wolkenstein officially kicked off the 55th Saslong Classic on Monday evening.

This week, representatives of all 17 teams competing in Val Gardena/Gröden attended the Team Captains' Meeting and were welcomed by Rainer Senoner, President of the Saslong Classic Club. In addition, the FIS technical delegate, Viktor Gichev, wished all athletes a successful race week.

Immediately afterward, Markus Waldner, FIS Race Director, took the floor. He provided information about the condition of the race course and explained the program. "We were on the course this afternoon. The Saslong is in excellent condition. The jumps are the same as in previous years. Slope manager Horst Demetz has managed it very well once again. We have a training session on Tuesday. The downhill on Thursday starts at noon and will be begin at the super-G start. The rest of the program - the super-G on Friday and the downhill on Saturday, each starting at 11:45 a.m. - is confirmed," Waldner said.

The bib numbers were then drawn for the first training session, which Dominik Schwaiger of Germany will open at 11:45 a.m. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (Norway) has the "6", the "Azzurro" Dominik Paris has the "10," and the overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt from Switzerland follows immediately after the local hero from South Tyrol. Last year's title holder Bryce Bennett from the USA, has been assigned bib number 18.

The complete starting list is available here.