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The Bulgarian Ski Federation and Ulen have received an excellent rating from FIS for the World Cup preparations for the upcoming season. During the long weekend from February 22nd to February 24th, 2019 Bansko will host for the 6th time the most commercial competition in the most popular winter sport. We will welcome for the 3rd time the men who will compete in Alpine combination, Super G and Giant slalom.

The mandatory pre-start inspection was personally led by Chief Race Director World Cup Men Markus Waldner. He was accompanied by Emmanuel Couder from FIS. The delegation also included representatives from “Infront”, the company which manages the TV rights for the FIS World Cup, as well as Ingo Hopfgartner from Alpina Safety Systems.

The Bulgarian representatives were Bulgaria’s Ski Federation Vice president Georgi Bobev, Race director Viktor Gichev and his father Valentin Stefanov - chief of the previous 5 FIS World Cups. The hosts from Ulen were represented by Route director Georgi Popov-Tumbe and the heads of the training units.

After inspecting the slopes under Todorka peak, the FIS experts met with President of Bulgaria Ski Federation Mr. Tseko Minev. Later a visit was held to the hotels that will host racers, coaches, VIP guests and journalists. Waldner stated that the preparation and the organization are perfect.

The FIS World Cup in February will be the biggest event in Bulgaria's sports calendar for 2019. The races here are right after the World Championship in Are in Sweden so the current world champions and all the stars in the speed and technical disciplines are expected to arrive. Bansko is the only resort in Eastern Europe, which will host 3 starts for the Alpine Ski World Cup next year.

In the picture: Ingo Hopfgartner, Georgi Bobev, Victor Gichev, Markus Waldner, Asya Ilieva, Emmanuel Couder and Tseko Minev (from left to right) pictured in front of the Alberto Tomba track after the FIS inspection.

Source: Bansko Tomorrow newspaper