5th stage of theCarving Cup International
Abetone (PT) - Italy - 27th February 1999
For the first time the Carving Cup takes place in the Apennines. The qualifying events are in Pulicchio, on the Coppi 2 piste. The snow is deep. The official course marker Stefano Ben builds "Nencetti" curve: buoys are one meter away from the top of a double jump: either you slow down or you jump over it. Steafano Mantegazza is the best in the qualifying events. Ganhal hides himself and Bosio comes out. At the start are Matteo Belfrond and Giancarlo Bergamelli. It is a very important moment for the Carving Cup: its official recognition is near. The semifinals and finals take place on the "Zeno 2" piste. During the semifinal second run a spark went off. Stefano Bosio runs an alternative course to the external one and scores one point less at the first curve taking away the astonished Ganhal his leadership. Among the women Annick Bonzon wins followed by Sovrana Welf and Elisabetta Timoteo. Laura Gianera is content with his 4. placement. Anxionnaz goes from the 3. to the 8. . In the finals Ganhal thrashes Prami, while Giancarlo Bergamelli relieved Mantegazza of the 3. placement. But the real winner is the formula "time divided (:) points". Now the tactics is in the athletes' mind. Roberto Boselli scores the best time but the 8th placement. Among teams Rossignol wins again followed by Salomon.
