Norway’s Marte Monsen and Austria’s Maximilian Lahnsteiner took the overall ranking of the 2020/21 European Cup. The 21-year-old Scandinavian is the Slalom specialist, while the 24-year-old Austrian is more focused on speed. But the Swiss also shone brightly.
Ralph Weber (4th) and Simone Wild (9th) were the best Swiss skiers this year, in this antechamber to the World Cup. However, the most important thing to remember is that three women and four men have secured permanent places in the White Circus next winter by finishing in the top three. Jasmina Suter (25, 1st in the Super-G ), Stephanie Jenal (23, 2nd in the Super-G), Simone Wild (27, 2nd in the Giant), Stefan Rogentin (26, 1st in the Super-G), Ralph Weber (27, 2nd in the Super-G), Semyel Bissig (23, 2nd in the Giant) and Marc Rochat (28, 3rd in the Slalom) have secured their places.
As all seven skiers are already in the world’s top 60, they will not be taking World Cup places from any Swiss skiers. They are simply entitled to an extra place, on top of the Swiss quota in their discipline. This is rather good news.
This overall result is also much better than last year’s, when only Rahel Kopp (Downhill), Jasmina Suter (Super-G) and Semyel Bissig (Combined) achieved the same result. Walter Reusser, Swiss-Ski Alpine director, was very satisfied: "Having two additional places is extremely useful, especially in the Super-G, where we are very successful, and where there is not necessarily a place for young people. It gives us some breathing space and creates opportunities for the next generation."
The European Cup, second only to the World Cup, included a total of 56 races this winter: 30 for the men, and 26 for the women. Of these, 13 were held in Switzerland (Zinal 8, Meiringen-Hasliberg 2, Melchsee-Frutt 2, Crans-Montana 1 (the second Downhill had to be cancelled due to too much fresh snow).
While the men’s programme was fairly balanced (6 Downhills, 7 Super-G, 8 Slaloms and 8 Giants and 1 Combined), the women’s calendar was more technically oriented, with only 3 Downhills and 4 Super-G, compared to 10 Giants and 9 Slaloms. "We noticed that there is less density in the technical disciplines in Switzerland ", continues Walter Reusser. "We’re working intensively on this. The goal is to have strong teams in all disciplines. This is the only way to have a chance of winning the Nations Cup.".
In total, Switzerland celebrated ten European Cup victories thanks to Stephanie Jenal, Jasmine Flury, Jasmina Suter, Justin Murisier, Ralph Weber, Joel Lütolf, Lars Rösti, Josua Mettler, Semyel Bissig and Stefan Rogentin). Seven of these wins took place on Swiss pistes (6 in Zinal, 1 in Crans-Montana).
According to Walter Reusser, Switzerland’s strength in the speed sector is direct linked to the efforts made in Swiss ski resorts, and he is very pleased about this: "It is very gratifying to have lots of European Cup races in Switzerland. This creates platforms for the next generation. Crans-Montana, as the organiser of the World Cup, European Cup and a training partner, deserves a big thank you. Swiss-Ski greatly appreciates the fact that Crans-Montana has organised European Cup races every year since it ventured into the domain of the World Cup again in 2008, like the European Cup finals in 2009, which were a great success."
DEPREZphoto sa, cransmontana
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Thanks to her victory in the European Cup downhill in Crans-Montana, Jasmine Flury from the canton Grisons finished the season in fifth place in the discipline. |
The European Cup 2020/21 top-3 (plus the best Swiss)
Women
Overall (26 races): 1. Marte Monsen NOR 591. 2. Andreja Slokar SLO 553. 3. Jessica Hilzinger GER 522. – 9. Simone Wild 382.
DOwnhill (3): 1. Lisa Grill AUT 280. 2. Nadine Fest AUT 160. 3. Vanessa Nussbaumer AUT 114. – 5. Jasmine Flury 100. 8. Stephanie Jenal 84. 9. Noémie Kolly 79. 10. Rahel Kopp 76. 14. Katja Grossmann 51. 15. Delia Durrer 50.
Super-G (4): 1. Jasmina Suter SUI 252. 2. Stephanie Jenal SUI 250. 3. Julia Pleshkova RUS 180. – 5. Rahel Kopp 149. 13. Delia Durrer 80.
Giant Slalom (10): 1. Marte Monsen NOR 553. 2. Simone Wild SUI 382. 3. Hilma Loevblom SWE 350. – 23. Vanessa Kasper 107. 24. Selina Egloff 106. 26. Viviane Haerri 102. 27. Camille Rast 88.
Slalom (9): 1. Andreja Slokar SLO 465. 2. Lara Della Mea ITA 341. 3. Sara Rask SWE 297. – 22. Selina Egloff 111. 35. Camille Rast 60.
Men
Overall (30): 1. Maximilian Lahnsteiner AUT 692. 2. Raphael Haaser AUT 668. 3. Dominik Raschner AUT 570. – 4. Ralph Weber 496. 5. Stefan Rogentin 429. 9. Lars Rösti 360.
Downhill (6): 1. Victor Schuller FRA 334. 2. Maximilian Lahnsteiner AUT 319. 3. Erik Arvidsson USA 285. – 6. Yannick Chabloz 175. 7. Ralph Weber 160. 8. Lars Rösti und Gilles Roulin je 147.
Super-G (7): Stefan Rogentin SUI 328. 2. Ralph Weber SUI 325. 3. Roy Piccard FRA 305. – 6. Lars Rösti 213. 7. Nils Mani 179. 8. Arnaud Boisset 164. 11. Josua Mettler 136. 14. Alexis Monney 128.
Giant Slalom (8): 1. Dominik Raschner AUT 353. 2. Semyel Bissig SUI 301. 3. Timon Haugen NOR 300. – 20. Cédric Noger 104.
Slalom (8): 1. Billy Major GBR 258. 2. Anton Tremmell GER 248. 3. Marc Rochat SUI 237. – 14. Dionys Kippel 149. 15. Noel von Grünigen 143. 17. Joel Lütolf 126.
Alpin Combined (1): 1. Joel Lütolf SUI 100. 2. Florian Loriot FRA 80. 3. Luca Aerni SUI 60.