Francesco Cecon and Alex Insam just off the podium in FIS Cup: Austrians dominate in Villach

The FIS Cup two-day event on the HS100 hill in Villach opened with an all-Austrian podium sweep in the first competition, with Julijan Smid taking the top step after winning by half a point ahead of compatriot Simon Steinberger and another teammate, Johannes Peolz. Francesco Cecon finished eighth, the best Italian athlete, 11 pt behind the winner, while Alex Insam was 17th, Martin Chenetti 48th, Maximilian Gartner 55th, Min Iorio 66th and Martino Zambenedetti 78th.

Cecon then narrowly missed the podium in the second Carinthian competition on Sunday, with the 24-year-old from Friuli just two-tenths of a point behind Simon Steinberger, who finished third behind Germany’s Ben Bayer and Jakob Steinberger

Alex Insam finished a solid 6th, with Martin Chenetti further back in 51st, Maximilian Gartner 62nd, Min Iorio 73rd and Martino Zambenedetti in 78th place.

Martina Zanitzer, who represented Italy in the first two Grand Prix rounds in Wisla and Courchevel in recent weeks, has been called up by technical director Ivo Pertile for the training camp scheduled between Planica and Villach, taking place from this Monday through Friday, August 28.

She will be joined by coaches Harald Rodlauer and Zeno Di Lenardo, while the youth ski jumping and Nordic combined team will be in Predazzo from Wednesday, September 2 to Saturday, September 5, with Luca Zigante, Tobias Chenetti, Filippo Desilvestro and Giovanni Zambelli, together with coach Alessandro Pittin.