19 August 2024

Brignone: ‘Running here a special emotion special, my favourite slope for difficulty and gradients’

Federica Brignone is ready to plunge into winter: on Monday, 26 August, she will head to Argentina to prepare on the slopes of Ushuaia for the upcoming 2024/2025 competitive season. An important season for Valle d'Aosta and La Thuile, which will once again host a stage of the women's Alpine Skiing World Cup, the last before the American finals.

And it was precisely the home champion Federica Brignone - second on the ‘3-Franco Berthod’ slope in 2020 - who was the guest speaker at the meeting organised last night (Sunday) in La Thuile, in front of a packed audience. ‘It is my favourite World Cup slope because it is difficult, one of the steepest and gives no breathing space,’ began the skier from La Salle. ‘It is also difficult because of the visibility, there are more shadows than lights and it is necessary to trust. In addition, the fact of having the public and so many friends in the organisation is a special emotion for me. In La Thuile I scored my first points in the downhill in 2016, when I was still not the skier I am today. I expect a lot of fans to watch these races. The preparation so far has gone very well, I've been especially dedicated to athletics, with a few days of skiing in Breuil-Cervinia-Plateau Rosa last week, just a free run to get back on track. Now I will leave for Ushuaia where I will stay for five weeks and do the work I will need for the whole season, because I compete in several disciplines in winter and practically do not train'.

Opening the evening was the mayor Mathieu Ferraris, who was enthusiastic about welcoming the speed queens to the resort for the third time: ‘We started this long journey back in the 1990s, and it is a great honour for us to be part of these areas hosting the World Cup. Thanks go to Dante Berthod, the person who allowed La Thuile to enter the circuit. To have been chosen for the third time is a great pride for the resort and the Aosta Valley, a fundamental supporting body together with Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo’.

In La Thuile the appointment with the World Cup is for mid-March: Friday 14 the downhill, Saturday 15 the Super-G. An international showcase not only for the resort, but for the entire Aosta Valley, which was represented yesterday evening by the President of the Region, Renzo Testolin, the Regional Councillor for Tourism and Sport, Giulio Grosjacques, and the delegate for major events, Marco Albarello, to testify to the importance of the event. ‘Federica Brignone's results have certainly been an incentive for the entire Aosta Valley community to continue working and investing,’ explained Testolin. ‘Drawing a parallel between the organisational activity and that of an athlete, one needs perseverance, constancy, a lot of passion, a spirit of sacrifice and a desire to train. And that is what this area has done to be up to the task of organising the World Cup, which also involves managing minor events such as the European Cup, the Italian Championships and other youth competitions'.

During the evening, which was also attended by the general manager of the Funivie Piccolo San Bernardo Corrado Giordano and the vice-president of the organising committee Dante Berthod, the president of the organising committee Marco Mosso also took the floor: ‘Organising an event like the World Cup is very complicated, behind the spectacle and the minute and a bit more of a downhill there is a huge amount of work, which employs many people already during these months. And it is only thanks to the synergy between the region, the municipality and Funivie that all this is possible. The World Cup is an international showcase, a way to promote the resort with very important feedback’.

Race director Daniele Collomb, on the other hand, soffered on the technicality of the ‘3-Franco Berthod’ slope, making a tuffo to the past: ‘In 1996, Franco (Berthod, ed.) had glimpsed the potential of this slope, and since then, Funivie and ski club have set off on this long journey. The goal was to get the World Cup, we succeeded for the first time in 2016 after organising many other races. Franco passed on to me the passion, which I now try to carry on. I am honoured to be able to take on this role, which is a delicate one because on the track there are many aspects that should not be underestimated: safety, the laying of kilometres of nets and sliding sheets, the coordination of the teams divided into sectors that must be ready to intervene even in the event of bad weather. Everything must be perfect, in full compliance with the timetable imposed by television’.

In the meantime, the new website skiworldcuplathuile.com has been published, which in the coming months will become a point of reference for the public, with all the information regarding tickets, events and how to reach the resort.