Soldeu will welcome 200 members of the sporting family including 90 athletes from 22 countries

With the accumulation of this year’s European Cup, this makes it 15 major alpine skiing events held over 17 seasons

6 European Cups, 4 European Cup Finals, 3 World Cups and 2 World Cup Finals. In total, this makes it 15 major alpine skiing events held over 17 seasons. A romance with top-level competition that coexists with the work carried out by the Andorran Ski Federation (FAE) and the ski clubs’ work with those at grassroots level. The Men's Alpine Skiing European Cup will come to the Grandvalira ski area in just over 25 days and will see 90 athletes participate from a total of 22 countries around the world. On the 3rd and 4th of February, the legendary Avet track will turn into the host of the showpiece event for the Giant Slalom discipline on the continental circuit. In total, the Organising Committee is expecting 200 members of the sporting family to travel to Soldeu where they will stay in accommodation in the Parish of Canillo, where the competition takes place. When it comes to local participants, the FAE has allocated four places. In the official presentation this morning, the CEO of the FAE, Carles Visa explained that seven racers from the national team will compete for the four registered places. "They will have to win their places on merit during the competitions they have to compete in before Soldeu and we will announce those selected a week before the event." Bartumeu Gabriel, Xavier Cornella and Àlex Rius are the racers that currently have the most chance of being selected, and Àlvar Calvo, Marc Fernández, Pirmin Estruga and Èric Ebri will compete for the fourth place.

The presentation of the event was attended by Jordi Alcobé, the Mayor of Canillo; Jordi Torres, the Minister of Tourism and Trade; Carlos Visa, CEO of the FAE; Martí Alfonso, the Director of the Andorra Banking Business Division at Creand Crèdit Andorrà; and David Hidalgo, the CEO of SETAP365 and of the Organising Committee.

The Mayor of Canillo wanted to emphasise the importance of the event, as "it enables us to give visibility to our country, continuity to a long-term commitment, and a boost to our local racers". In this vein, the Minister of Tourism and Trade, applauded the fact that these competitions "allow us to position the country and show that we do things well". In turn, the representative from Creand Crèdit Andorrà highlighted "our support for the event given its international impact and for the importance it has as a stimulator for the country on an economic and social level".

Condition of the Avet course

European Cup Chief of Race, Santi López, expressed his satisfaction with the current condition of the course and the preparations in readiness for the competition. “On the 8th of January, with the course as it is today, the message is one of optimism. Sufficient snow has been produced of optimum quality. Currently, we are reinforcing any spots that have less snow. At the moment, it is about working on a day-by-day basis and keeping the surface even throughout the course. From this point, we will work on this snow. We will spread it to cover the entire course, and once we have enough thickness, we will give it the shape and form needed for competition. A few days before the competitions, water treatment is planned to be carried out to further harden the surface.” Making a parallel between how to deal with course preparations for a European Cup or a World Cup, López is clear: “A European Cup involves more racers than a World Cup does, and we work on getting an even harder snow base, so that the conditions do not deteriorate with each descent.” The goal set by the Organising Committee is to have the course ready one week before, so that the FAE athletes are able to train ‘at home’.

Competition conditions

The ‘Estadi Creand Eslàlom’, a course which is adjacent to the Avet, will be available to the teams for training with practically the same conditions as there are on the course where they will compete. The racers will get into Soldeu between the 30th and 31st of January and will have this set up available for training before the races.

Beyond the competition area and taking into account all the details of the organisation, Hidalgo stressed that “we will not let our guard down however much we have become used to hosting the World Cup. Expectations are very high, and we will respond with the same level of performance.” And he added: “We are determined to make our mark on the international circuit. Many of the racers participating will eventually make it to the World Cup and we must offer them a top-tier destination.”

A Spaniard with the chance of making the podium

This year, there are 19 host venues that are organising competitions for the various alpine skiing disciplines of the European Cup. Soldeu will be the 13th stop on the calendar. In total there are five ski stations that will host Giant Slalom races. In this category, the Swiss racer, Lenz Haechler currently leads the classification with 200 points, followed by French racer, Flavio Vitale (160 points), and the Spanish racer, Aleix Aubert (105 points). Aubert has real chances of getting on the podium in Andorra. The 19-year-old skier achieved historic results in the Zinal European Cup (SUI) last month in December. Third and fifth positions attained for the racer from Barcelona in the two Giant Slaloms at the event. As for the overall classification of the European Cup, Felix Hacker (AUT) occupies first position with 280 points, Oscar Andreas Sandvik (NOR) is in second with 280 points, and Lenz Haechler in third with 239 points.
To host the sporting event, the Organising Committee is being assisted by a total of 120 volunteers. In addition, it is worth highlighting the support of companies and collaborating entities, out of which the sponsorships from Andorra Turisme, Creand Crèdit Andorrà, the Municipality of Canillo and the FAE stand out.