Ski: Obereggen European Cup, slalom canceled due to heat

Even the 36th edition of the Obereggen European Cup has not been spared by the crazy weather of these last days. Race canceled on the Maierl track, after the descent of the 64th competitor: leading the Croatian Rodes, winner of the last edition, favored by the bib number n. 2, so much so that the first ten at the time of the interruption were classified in the first 10 positions. The blue Tommaso Sala (bib number 5) was sixth with a delay of 98 cents; Stefano Gross, third in the World Cup slalom in Val d'Isere last Sunday, was thirteenth after going down with bib number n. 17; the Vinazer promise and the 2009 Vancover Olympic champion Giuliano Razzoli instead came out.
Unlike other European Cup and World Cup races, the competition, held on the Maierl track, was "wiping out" all the negative factors that had prevented other races from taking place: wind, rain, fog and even "spring" temperatures from look like snow in March rather than December. An unavoidable fact: at 10am, the time of departure of the first run, there were 5 degrees on the Maierl. Despite all these elements, plunged in the last three days on the famous South Tyrolean resort of the Latemar area (20 minutes from Bolzano), the Obereggen Latemar Spa plant and the organizing committee of the oldest stage of the European Cup had prepared Maierl in the best condition possible, taking into account adverse weather conditions.
"This crazy time has penalized us this year," Eduard Pichler, president of the organizing committee of the European Cup, explained to the finish line parterre. Stefano Gross, thirteenth at the end of the first race, explained: "Unfortunately the weather conditions of these days have penalized the track and therefore this race that could not be concluded due to the danger".