After the speed events in Lake Louise and Beaver Creek the Alpine Ski World Cup returns to Europe. The Ladies World Cup continues in Sestriere (ITA) with an entire weekend dedicated to the technical disciplines with two events:
December 10th Giant Slalom / Women. 1st run 10:30 CET - 2nd run 13:30 CET
December 11th Slalom / Women. 1st run 10:30 CET - 2nd run 13:30 CET
The competitions will be held on the Kandahar Giovanni Alberto Agnelli slope. This legendary slope – named Kandahar Slalom at creation – was renamed in 1998 for Giovanni Alberto Agnelli, deceased a few months after taking on the role of Chairman of the 1997 Ski World Championships Organisation Committee.
Kandahar Giovanni Alberto Agnelli Facts
Start altitude: 2,400m (GS), 2,250 (SL)
Finish altitude: 2,044m
Elevation difference: 356m (GS), 206m (SL)
Length: 1,272m (GS), 649 (SL)
Maximum gradient: 60%
The last edition of the World Cup to be held on the slopes of Sestriere, took place on 18 and 19 January 2020 with a Giant Slalom and a Women's Parallel.
In 2020, Federica Brignone and Petra Vlhova shared victory in the Giant Slalom. Federica Brignone follows her mother, former Italian skier Maria Rosa Quario, who won the slalom in the Italian ski resort back in 1983. Brignone had posted the fasted time in the first run, and despite she set only the fifth-fastest time in the second run, was enough to match Petra Vlhova.
Chasing ever so closely behind was Mikaela Shiffrin, who charged hard in the second run to move onto the podium by the narrowest possible margin – just 0.01 seconds from the winner duo.
In 2016 the last women's World Cup was slalom held in Sestriere. Back then Mikaela Shiffrin dominated both slalom runs to finish ahead of Veronika Velez Zuzulova (+ 1.09) and Wendy Holdener (+ 1.21).
An incredibly tight Giant Slalom race unfolded on the legendary Kandahar Giovanni A. Agnelli slope in Sestriere on 2016. Tessa Worley won the race edging Sofia Goggia by a mere 0.15 seconds. Lara Gut finished in third place, +0.29 seconds behind the French.
Sestriere is a ski resort in Piedmont, Italy, a comune (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Turin. It is located in Val Susa, 17 km from the French border.
The history of Sestrire goes back to the 1930s when senator and FIAT's founder Giovanni Agnelli commissioned the building of two towers to use it as Hotels on the huge meadows of the village's hill. In this place were also set up the first two cableways directed to Banchetta and Sises mountains.
Located in the Col of Sestriere at 2,035 metres, at the foot of Mount Sises (2,658 m) and surrounded by Mount Banchetta and Mount Fraiteve. Sestriere together with the villages of Claviere, Sauze d'Oulx, Cesana Torinese, San Sicario, Pragelato and the French Montgenèvre, it makes up the Via Lattea skiing area. It offers more that 200 skiing connected courses, that is a linear extension equal to 400 Km, whose altitude ranges from 1350 metres in Cesana to 2800 metres on top of the Motta course. 60% of the skiing area is covered by the planned snowmaking system net.
The history of ski racing in Sestriere dates back to even before the World Cup format arose. In fact, ski races were already being organised on the slopes of Mount Banchetta in the 1950s as part of the Kandahar Trophy.
Sestriere regularly hosts Alpine Ski World Cup events -61 World Cup races have been organised since 1967, and one edition of the World Cup Finals in 2004. Sestriere also hosted the World Championships in 1997; and it was a main venue during the 2006 Winter Olympic Games, hosting the men's alpine skiing competitions (the speed disciplines on the Kandahar Banchetta Nasi and the technical disciplines on the Kandahar Giovanni A. Agnelli) and being the site of one of the three Olympic Villages.
Sestriere returned to the World Cup in the 2016-2017 winter season after a few years’ absence.