For the second consecutive season, the Telemark World Cup circuit travels to the Gran Pallars Espot resort, which has become the epicenter of this sport in Spain. The Gran Pallars Espot resort has been awarded the 2013 Telemark World Championships. Fans will be able to see the best riders in action in the free heel technique. A total of seventy skiers from fourteen countries will compete. In the men's category, the team to beat is the Lau Team, formed by brothers Chris, Sven, and Philipe Lau, who lead the powerful French team, which in recent seasons has managed to dethrone the Scandinavian powers.
Philippe, the current leader of the overall World Cup, dominates the sprint event and defends his sectional title from last season. This season, he has won all five races contested so far. After two races, Sven, with a victory in the giant sprint event, leads the sectional standings in this category, but with Sweden's Mattias Wagenius trailing by 30 points. The third event, the classic event, has the closest standings, with Norway's Eirik Rykhus and Switzerland's Bastien Dayer tied on 150 points. The top representative on the Spanish team is veteran Madrid-born skier Tomás Testillano, who also serves as the coach of the RFDEI team. This season, his best result is a sixteenth place in the sprint event at the Austrian resort of Rauris.
In the women's category, the race is uneven. Swiss Ameli Reymond continues to dominate the Telemark World Cup circuit. Last season, she won the overall title and the giant sprint, sprint, and classic titles. This season, she is unbeaten, having won all nine races contested to date. The Sion-based skier has 37 World Cup victories and is on track to break all records. Granollers-based skier Raquel Bau will be the sole Spanish representative. The Catalan arrives in Espot just in time for preparation, having recently given birth to her first child. Bau returned to competition on February 3 and 4 at the Swiss resort of Thyon, where she finished in eighteenth and nineteenth place.
Source: Copos-Skicenter
Link: http://ow.ly/hSjGW