The countdown has officially started for the fourth stage of the ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Cup circuit, taking place on the Italian eastern Alps, among the regions of Veneto and Friuli. On Friday morning at Alpago – precisely in Col Indes, a few kilometers above the village of Tambre, the Individual race will take place. In the men senior category, everybody is curious to see if the duel for the victory between Kilian Jornet (SPA) and Michele Boscacci (ITA) will continue and who will be the best this time. The Spanish and the Italian were alternating on the first and second podium stage in the previous three races, no one else could keep up with them. Will Palzer (GER) or maybe Gachet (FRA), or someone else will be able to break this dominance? We’ll find out soon.
The  track will cross the “border” between Veneto and Friuli region, overlooking the slopes of Piancavallo ski area and will touch all the peaks that surround the ground of the Val dei Sass, Colombera, Tremol and Monte Forcella. “Race tracks – said Vittorio Romor, technical director of Transcavallo – are in excellent conditions. Snow has fallen copious and at altitude it’s more than one meter deep. We are carefully evaluating the snowpack stability, given that safety always comes first, but the mild air has made sure that the snow is quickly settling down. Only in some places we need to evaluate the contributions of wind drifted snow”.
A Sprint race is planned for Saturday, in the Piancavallo ski area, where Romor can count on a precious support: “In Piancavallo, the organization continues under the careful guidance of Enzo Sima, director of the Piancavallo ski area and Federal Councillor of Italian Ski Federation, Fisi. We are daily in contact with Sima to plan every detail. To have such important and professional partners helps us a lot in organizing an event that will be the calling card for the World Championships next year».
The tracks of the Individual and Sprint races will be same competition venues that will award the World titles at the 2017 ISMF World Championships.