Selvi, Whitley dominate at Espot Europa Cup

Spain’s Ana Maria Selvi and Great Britain’s James Whitley posted commanding victories in slalom at the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup on Friday (12 February) in Espot, Spain.

Selvi, with guide Esther Noguera, won the women’s visually impaired category in 1:51.93, finishing quicker than Belgium’s runner-up Eleonor Sana (2:01.59) and her guide Chloe Sana.

Rounding out the podium was Belgian Marie-Morgane Dessart and guide Marine Francoise Antoine (2:06.64).

The host nation saw two victories on Friday’s slalom races, with the other coming from Ursula Pueyo (1:53.04) in the women’s standing. Despite bettering Pueyo in the second run, Swiss skier Bigna Schmidt (1:54.19) finished in second.

On the men’s side, Whitley was the only skier to clock under 50 seconds in both runs to win the standing category in 1:32.85.

Only 0.09 seconds separated the second and third place finishers. Thanks to a solid first run, Italian Davide Bendotti (1:44.23) edged Andorra’s Roger-Ignasi Puig (1:44.32).

Despite producing the fastest time in the first run, France’s Yohann Taberlet could not replicate that performance in the second, as compatriot Frederic Francois (1:33.97) took the victory in the men’s sitting category. Taberlet clocked 1:34.72 and was followed by Norway’s Jesper Pedersen (1:38.79) in third.

Great Britain’s John Dickinson-Lilley with guide Jack Davey posted 1:59.51 in the men’s visually impaired. France’s Laureen Welschbillig posted 2:05.08 in the women’s sitting category.

Full results are available at IPC Alpine Skiing’s calendar and results page.

Racing concludes on Saturday (13 February) with the second slalom race.