Will the "Black" still be the reign of Mikaela? All in search of Shiffrin in the women's slalom of Levi: the complete guide

The first specialty race of the 2019/2020 World Cup has a clear favorite, but watch out for Vlhova, Holdener and the Austrian returns ...

Friday 22 November 2019 10 minutes reading time

Levi's slalom, four weeks after the giant opening in Soelden, will kick off a practically uninterrupted calendar, from here to the Cortina finals in mid-March 2020. On the Finnish snow, the women's race will open the dances with an appointment set at 10.15am Italian (11.15am local) on Saturday morning for the 1st run, while the decisive run will start at 1.15pm; few doubts about the weather conditions, ideal in these days with cold and optimal preparation of the track, even if the temperatures are rising slightly. On top of the prediction of the vigil, of course, there is the "usual" Mikaela Shiffrin: second for just six cents in Soelden, the American superstar presents herself in Levi with 40 victories in the maximum circuit in this specialty, of which 8 (out of 9 races!) last season. Simply absurd numbers, and even if the "Levi Black" is not exactly the ideal track to dig the usual groove with rivals, Mikaela has always done very well in these parts, "piercing" only in 2014 (11th), with a 3rd placed at the debut, the second mocker of two years ago (one tenth from Vlhova), and above all the three victories of the 2013, 2016 and 2018 editions (in 2015 the race was not disputed, as in 2011). The 24 year old of Eagle, also in this town, is already the absolute recordman, even if in cohabitation with Maria Hoefl-Riesch, since also the German signed the tris in Lapland (2004, 2009, 2012), then beaten in 2013 just from the US. The only other winner in business at Levi? Obviously Petra Vlhova, the second favorite for tomorrow's race ... or maybe not; the Slovak, in fact, is still far from the best condition after a complicated summer, the confirmation arrived in Soelden with the 14th place on the Rettenbach, but it is clear that, considering the difference between the big and the "rest of the world" in this discipline, Petra will fight at least for the podium and will try to approach the great rival, bent in the opening two years ago. The third favorite is Wendy Holdener, who has not yet won in her career (crazy, if we think about it) in this specialty, but she is very solid and just in the last Cup slalom contested, last March at the Soldeu finals, she wavered the throne of His Majesty Mikaela, yielding for only 7 cents. The Swiss unknown, however, is related to the injury to the elbow accused three weeks ago, with a fracture to the radial capital that did not affect the subsequent training sessions too much, even though the 26-year-old confirmed that she still felt a little of pain. In fourth place of the WCSL and coming from the best career year, with the silver medal in the house at Are, there is Anna Swenn-Larsson: on a slope which is anything but impossible like the Finnish one, can think of fighting and how for the podium. With the withdrawal of Frida Hansdotter and the absence of Bernadette Schild, injured in Soelden and out throughout the season, the first sub-group of merit will be completed by Katharina Truppe, Katharina Liensberger and Kristin Lysdahl. The first one is the most constant but it still has to get close to a podium, the Norwegian is growing and has a great chance starting among the first 7, then there is ... Liensberger. We talked a lot about the very talented '97 school in Vorarlberg between summer and autumn for the case related to the materials that led it to skip Soelden, but in extremis it came to a solution ... not a solution, in the sense that the '' aquilotta has returned to Rossignol home and will compete with little work on the "historical" material, after having tested Kastle for months. An unknown factor, but the quality is not discussed and it would not surprise us to see it already in front. In the second sub-group of merit there is no lack of interesting names: from the return of the current Olympic bronze Katharina Gallhuber, in the race after 11 months from the break of the crusader and with the need to return in condition within a few races, to a Nina Haver- Loeseth which is essentially in the same situation as the Austrian. Here then are the two Canadians, Laurence St-Germain and Erin Mielzynski, a Christina Ackermann (ex Geiger, in case you get confused) who did very well last year, Switzerland with Aline Danioth waiting for the explosion and a Michelle Gisin who arouses great curiosity for a potential, who knows, from top 5 even among the rapid gates. Finally, the only blue in the 30s, in this case in the 15: we talk about the captain Irene Curtoni, who at 34 years old decided to continue at least another season, after having feared the withdrawal for the known back problems. The goal, at least in Levi, is the top 10. Without Chiara Costazza, who retired, and a long list of absences, from Noens to Meillard until the recent injured Saefvenberg, out of the first group we must pay great attention to Meta Hrovat, Mina Fuerst Holtmann and the re-entering Estelle Alphand and Marina Wallner. The other blue ones? Just outside the 30 there is Lara Della Mea, the great medium-long term hope for Italy in this specialty where you have been suffering for a long, long time; it would still be wrong to ask for results from the top ten class Tarvisiana '99, which so far has collected three points results in the World Cup, but will have to improve the bibs first and aim to enter the 20 consistently. The team of the new responsible coach, Matteo Guadagnini, is completed with four other youngsters; we are talking about Martina Peterlini, Marta Rossetti, Anita Gulli and Roberta Midali, all looking for the first points in their career and, consequently, with their sights focused on qualifying for the 2nd round.

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