Second Leg of the 2017 Downhill World Cup: Ambrose Downhill in Sant’Ambrogio di Valpolicella (Italy)
The second leg of the 2017 Downhill World Cup took place in Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella on July 1 and 2, 2017. The 2.8 km course, set up north of Verona on the heights of the lake, gave a hard time to all competitors.
Par Alexandre LEBRUN

Recap of the Event
Nearly 50 competitors
The course had 7 curves and was a little less than 3 km long. It didn’t take more than 3 brakes to the best competitors throughout the course.
More than a leg of the Downhill World Cup, the event was also the German Championship this year. Nearly fifty competitors took part in it, mainly coming from Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Against-The-Clock Event
In the men’s, the 2016 world champion and vice-champion, Italian Angelo Vecchi and French Sylvain Behr, were neck and neck. The final ranking remained the same as last year, the French finishing half a second behind the Italian, who proved to be uncompromising on the fast track, especially with his 4×110 mm set-up. Italian Pablo Augustin Tussetto got 3rd place.
In the women’s, Italian Martina Papilla won her second leg in a row of the Inline Downhill World Cup, with a one-second lead on German Mira Börsig and her team mate, Annalenna Rettenberger.
Inline Cross 4-Skater Race
On the menu in the men’s final: 2 French (Sylvain Behr and Karim Mallis), Italian Pablo Augustin Tussetto, and Swiss Christian Montavon.
The competitors stayed in a tight pack until the last part of the course, where Swiss Christian Montavon made the difference in getting out of the last bend first to rush towards the finish line. Behind, Italian Pablo Augustin Tussetto kept his 2nd place thanks to his powerful push, in front of the two French, Sylvain Behr and Karim Mallis, who didn’t have the opportunity to implement a pair strategy for the final.
In the women’s, the final had only 3 participants, German Annalenna Rettenberger not having been able to take the start for medical reasons.
Three skaters from three different nations: Italian Martina Paciolla, well decided to win a new double, German Mira , being the main challenger, and French Emilie Sadoux, with her deadly soul slide technique.
Here too, the fate of the race was sealed in the last bend, where the French launched an attack, taking the bend in leading position, but she couldn’t hold her trajectory. The Italian and the German finished the course sprinting, and this time the race turned in favor of German Mira Börsig, who won in front of Martina Papilla, hot on her heels.
The next leg of the World Cup will take place in Teolo on August 5 and 6… Save the date!
Results
Men’s Against-The-Clock
1) Angelo VECCHI (Italie)
2) Sylvain BEHR (France)
3) Pablo Augustin TUSSETTO (Italie)
Women’s Against-The-Clock
1) Martina PACIOLLA (Italie)
2) Mira BÖRSIG (Allemagne)
3) Annalenna RETTENBERGER (Allemagne)
Men’s Inline Cross
1) Christian MONTAVON (Suisse)
2) Pablo Augustin TUSSETTO (Italie)
3) Sylvain BEHR (France)
4) Karim MALLIS (France)
Women’s Inline Cross
1) Mira BÖRSIG (Allemagne)
2) Martina PACIOLLA (Italie)
3) Emilie SADOUX (France)
Useful Links
Full Results on Inlinedownhill.com