Italy venues prep for FIS World Cup Grand Finals

Preparations are well under way in Bormio, Santa Caterina and Valmalenco, Italy, for the FIS World Cup Grand Finals 2008, set to take place from March 12-16.
PREPARATIONS ARE WELL under way in Bormio, Santa Caterina and Valmalenco, Italy, for the FIS World Cup Grand Finals 2008, set to take place from March 12-16.
    The Alpine Finals will feature the season’s last races in four FIS Alpine World Cup events (slalom, giant slalom, super G and downhill) with competitions starting Wednesday, March 12. All men’s and women’s races — women for the first time since 2003 — will be held on the infamous Stelvio slope. The schedule will conclude with the nations team event on Sunday, March 16. As at the traditional New Year’s men’s downhill race, the Finals finish area will be at the bottom of the slope.
    As a premiere, the Cross-Country World Cup Final in Santa Caterina will be staged as a mini competition series. Starting with a prologue and followed by two distance races, the three-race weekend — competitors must enter all races — will test the athletes in diverse ways while delivering a maximum of 300 FIS World Cup points to the best athletes. For carrying out the new Finals race program, construction work to broaden the trails, modify a downhill section and complete a bridge is under way, with scheduled completion by the end of October. A final course and TV inspection with host broadcaster RAI and rightsholder Infront Italy is scheduled for Oct. 30.
    Valmalenco will host the FIS Freestyle Skiing and Snowboard World Cup Finals. Work on the snowboard and skiercross courses, the moguls course and big-air venue has already been finished, and so has the adaptations to the snowmaking system. Work on the halfpipe, for both snowboard and freestyle, will begin next week and is scheduled to be completed by the end of October.
    For more information, the home page for the FIS Grand Finals 2008 is already online at www.grandfinals2008.com.