STA, 12 March 2022 - The Slovenian ski resort of Kranjska Gora will host this weekend the 61st Vitranc Cup, which will feature two Alpine Ski World Cup giant slalom events for men. It is the last opportunity for Alpine skiers to position themselves in the rankings ahead of the season finale in Courchevel on 16-20 March.
The host nation expects the most from Žan Kranjec, the runner-up in the giant slalom race at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, who is expected to be greeted by a sizeable fan-base as spectators are allowed this year to attend the event in person.
The 29-year-old has told the STA that that there "are three giant slaloms until the end of the season, and I want to perform as best as I can", adding that the "expectations are accordingly high."
Kranjec, who has two wins in the World Cup from Saalbach in 2018 and from Adelboden in 2020, feels confident on the skis and hopes to "translate the good form from the Olympics to the events at the end of the season."
Aleš Vidic, the representative of the event, said that the weather forecast was "very promising, sun, low temperatures that are ideal for the event" adding that top-level performances were expected on Saturday and Sunday.
The main favourite is Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, who won four giant slalom events in the current World Cup season and the giant slalom event at the Beijing Olympics. He also won last year's Vitranc Cup with more than a one-second margin.
The organisers have announced that all competitors ranked 1-30 would receive monetary awards, with the prize money for an individual race amounting to 120,000 Swiss francs.
