Canadians starting nine at Soelden

The Canadian Alpine Ski Team is set to kick off the 2010/2011 World Cup alpine ski season this weekend in Solden with nine athletes scheduled to compete in Saturday and Sunday’s giant slalom races.

Women set to compete on Saturday are Olympians Marie-Michele Gagnon, and Marie-Pier Prefontaine along with prospect group member Victoria Stevens making her first career World Cup race start.

“We have had a very good training period leading into the race in Solden so we are looking forward to the opportunity to race and get a sense of where we stand right now,” said women’s team head coach Hugues Ansermoz. “We will be starting with no girls inside the top 30 bib numbers but we’re focused on getting into the second run and building from there.”
 
Prefontaine will be the first Canadian to come out of the starting gate, wearing bib number 32, followed by Gagnon with bib number 37 and Stevens starting 66th.
 
“We were very happy with what (Stevens) showed us in training here in Austria. All the coaches agreed that she deserves this first World Cup opportunity. It’s for sure a big step for a racer coming from the provincial program but she showed a lot of confidence and ‘guts’ over the training period,” Ansermoz said.
 
There were no Canadian women in the second run last year, during a tight race in which Finland’s Tanja Poutiainen beat Kathrin Zettel Austria by just 0.01s.
 
On the men’s side, the guys include Olympians Erik Guay, Francois Bourque, Jean-Philippe Roy, Manuel Osborne-Paradis, and Robbie Dixon. This will be the first World Cup race for Bourque and Roy since they both suffered knee injuries last December in Val d’Isere, FRA.

Roy finished ninth last year in this race prior to his injury. Didier Cuche of Switzerland was the winner. Dustin Cook, last season’s Nor-Am Cup overall champion, is also scheduled to make his World Cup debut.
 
Men’s team head coach Paul Kristofic said the racers are expecting slightly softer snow that the rock hard glacier ice that is usually found at the traditional World Cup opener in Solden.
 
“Usually in Solden we are used to a sheet of ice, but this year they’re is a bit of snow on top of the ice so the surface is softer and we have late bib numbers so it will not be an easy race here,” said Kristofic.
 
“We never take it easy, the guys are here to compete,” Kristofic said. “We are trying to build our giant slalom team again as the majority of the guys suffered from injuries last year. I’m looking to see a couple of the guys in the second run and to improve our quotas for the next GS races,” added Kristofic.

Photo of Prefontaine by GEPA