Bansko double header puts PSL in spotlight
Jan 20, 2023·Alpine Snowboard
The two-day competition in Bansko (BUL) taking place 21-22 January hosts two parallel slalom events instead of one of each discipline as originally scheduled. Both races start at 12pm CET at the venue last used in the 2018/19 season.
Just two more PSL races then follow to close the season out, so Bansko provides an opportunity for those leading the rankings in the shorter discipline to stamp their authority on the standings. Valuable points are also on offer for those jockeying for the overall title.
With a third and first so far in PSL, Daniela Ulbing (AUT) heads the women’s leader board with 160 points. The 24-year-old who was third last season in the overall standings, currently heads the combined tour on 261 points. But a fast-improving Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) who had a slow start to the season due to a back injury, is still on course to claim a fourth consecutive overall title after a second place in Scuol (SUI) on Saturday (14 January).
The 26-year-old is now second overall (253 points) and is the current PGS leader (182 points) but has work to do in the PSL, currently sitting in seventh on 71 points. It is in Bansko that the German – who was third on this slope in 2018/19, with Ulbing 12th – will be hoping to secure a bigger points haul to increase the pressure on her rivals as the tour heads into the second half of the season.
Austrians currently place in the top three spots in the PSL with Sabine Schoeffmann (136 points) and Claudia Riegler (109 points) second and third, respectively. Schoeffmann won the first PSL of the season in Wolfsberg (GER) – her boyfriend Alexander Payer (AUT) claimed the men’s edition to secure a happy household on the opening weekend – but seventh and eighth positions followed. Riegler’s second place in Bad Gastein (AUT) in January helped her climb into a podium position.
Three Swiss follow – Julie Zogg (109 points, 3= with Riegler), Jessica Keiser (90 points) and Ladina Jenny (80 points) – and they will also be hoping for a successful outing in Bulgaria to keep themselves in the race for PSL accolades.
Standings after 2 of 6 races on the women's PSL tour
1 Daniela Ulbing (AUT) 160 points
2 Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT) 136 points
3= Claudia Riegler (AUT) 109 points
3= Julie Zogg (SUI) 109 points
Standings after 5 of 13 races on the women's overall tour
1 Daniela Ulbing (AUT) 261 points
2 Ramona Theresia Hofmeister (GER) 253 points
3 Julie Zogg (SUI) 233 points
Andreas Prommegger (AUT) tops the overall and PGS standings on the men’s tour, with 294 points and 240 points, respectively. Payer sits 22 points behind Prommegger in combined, on 272, but leads the PSL with 180 points and will be hopeful of a repeat Winterberg result to keep ahead of the chasing short-course pack.
The pair will both want to improve on their performances from Bansko last time out in the 2018/19 season, with both finishing just outside the top 10.
After his serene performance in Bad Gastein (AUT) to claim a first-ever World Cup win, Maurizio Bormolini (ITA) will be hoping to replicate that form in Bansko to keep him in the hot spots in the PSL standings. Currently second on 140 points – 40 points behind Payer – last season’s PSL runner-up, who is also third overall on 246 points, will be looking for another smooth run.
Roland Fischnaller (ITA) will be hoping to get back in the mix in the overall podium places after claiming a first and third on home snow in the Italian PGS double header in Carezza and Cortina D’Ampezzo in December. An 18th and 20th followed in the PSL in Bad Gastein and Scuol (SUI), respectively, leaving the 42-year-old, who joined the World Cup tour the same year as Prommegger in 1996, in fourth on 204 points, quite a way behind Bormolini.
Germany’s Stefan Baumeister, third in last year’s PSL rankings, has secured two third places in PSL in 2022/23 so far (120 points) while Tim Mastnak (SLO) is on 96 points, so good placings from them would keep them in touch for the PSL crystal globe.
Standings after 2 of 6 races on the men’s PSL tour
1 Alexander Payer (AUT) 180 points
2 Maurizio Bormolini (ITA) 140 points
3 Stefan Baumeister (GER) 120 points
Standings after 5 of 13 races on the men's overall tour
1 Andreas Prommegger (AUT) 294 points
2 Alexander Payer (AUT) 272 points
3 Maurizio Bormolini (ITA) 246 points
The snowboard alpine World Cup tribe then hot foot it over to Blue Mountain (CAN) for a PGS double header on 26-27 January, before a break for the FIS Freestyle Ski and Snowboarding World Championships taking place in Bakuriani, Georgia from 19 February to 5 March. The Snowboard Alpine disciplines take place 19 February (PGS), 21 February (PSL), and conclude with mixed parallel slalom on 22 February.
A return to the World Cup tour sees Livigno (ITA) host both disciplines on 11-12 March. The location of snowboard and freestyle skiing at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, replaces the originally scheduled venue, Piancavallo (ITA), after a lack of snow forced the postponement of the 2022/23 season-opener in Livigno. Races in Rogla (SLO) on 15 March and Berchtesgaden (GER) on 18-19 March round out the season.
WHERE TO WATCH
