The popular ski area of Bad Kleinkirchheim will not be taken into consideration during the planning of the upcoming World Cups. During their autumn meeting, FIS confirmed that the Austrian town, which hosted the Women's downhill and GS competitions in 2018, will not be among the World Cup venues in the near future. Reconstruction of the ski lifts remains a pressing issue in Bad Kleinkirchheim.
Only two Women's speed venues remain
With Bad Kleinkirchheim out of the World Cup calendar, only two of the three Austrian venues for the Women's speed events will remain as hosts. Altenmarkt-Zauchensee (January 11 & 12, 2020) and St. Anton (January 2021) will take turns organizing the downhill and GS competitions.
Stockholm removed from schedule as well
The parallel slalom event in Stockholm was canceled curing the autumn meeting as well. The city event, which would have taken place in March 2020, was removed following a request by the organizers. While the Women's event will be held in Åre instead, the Men's competition had to be cancelled.
>> Check out all dates and venues of the 2019/2020 World Cup season
Soldeu to host 2023 World Cup final
The Andorran skiing area Soldeu will return as host of the World Cup final in 2023. After hosting the final in 2019, the winter sports region was chosen as a venue for the second time, ahead of Kvitfjell and Lenzerheide. The upcoming finals will be held in Cortina d'Ampezzo (2020), Lenzerheide (2021) and Meribel/Courchevel (2022).
Combined events will be modified
Looking to refresh the races, FIS announced several changes to the combined competitions. Not only will more races be held, starting in 2019/2020, they will also feature a small modification. The starting field will no longer be turned around for the slalom event, meaning whoever finishes first in the downhill race will also be starting in first place in slalom. As technically more advanced skiers were favored by their early start, this change was designed to even the chances among the athletes.
The Men's World Cup combined events will be held in Bormio, Wengen and Hinterstoder this season. Female athletes will compete againts each other in Val d'Isère, Zauchensee, Crans-Montana and La Thuile.
Tightened schedule for parallel events
Another change to this season's schedule will be made regarding the parallel events. By tightening the schedule, FIS is looking to reach more viewers on television. The altered timetable will feature a qualification round, from which the 32 best athletes advance to the actual parallel races. While the first round will still consist of two runs, the skiers will only have one chance to prove themselves during the following knockout rounds.
The Men's parallel competitions this season will take place in Alta Badia and Charmonix (GS). St. Moritz, Sestriere and Åre will host the Women's events (slalom).
