Vitranc Cup

Vitranc Cup
From the first Vitranc Cup (1961)
Information
Slovenian:	Pokal Vitranc
Debut:	4–5 March 1961
Disciplines:	slalom, giant slalom
Member:	Club5+
Editions:	61
Most wins
Total:	Marcel Hirscher (6x)
Giant slalom:	Ted Ligety (5x)
Slalom:	Benjamin Raich (4x)
World Cup events
Total:	80
Men:	79
Women:	1
Current course
Name:	"Podkoren 3"
Opened:	1 December 1983
Max. incline:	30.5° degrees (59%)
Min. incline:	10.2° degrees (18%)
Architect:	Peter Lakota
Full cancelation
5–times:	1974, 1976, 1981, 2000, 2020

Vitranc Cup (Slovenian: Pokal Vitranc) is an annual FIS Alpine Ski World Cup competition, held since 1961 in Kranjska Gora, Upper Carniola, Slovenia.

For Giant slalom, Kranjska Gora is considered one of the three most prestigious and challenging locations in the world, along with Adelboden and Alta Badia.

This competition is the successor of the "Bukovniški smuk" (Bukovnik Downhill), "kamikaze dowhnill" race first held in Kranjska Gora in 1949. ^[1]

History

1961: First edition

On 4 March 1961, the first ever Vitranc Cup event was held on an extremely demanding and steep giant slalom course from the top of the Vitranc mountain. The event was also known as "hara-kiri with acceleration". ^{[2] [3] [4]}

1962: Event not scheduled at all

In 1962, for the only time in history, the competition did not meet the schedule at all, because the Yugoslavian Ski Federation office in Belgrade simply forgot to send the application to the International Ski Federation (FIS). ^[5]

1968: World Cup debut

On 10 March 1968, the Vitranc Cup (Kranjska Gora) hosted the first ever World Cup alpine ski event in Slovenia (also Yugoslavia at the same time). The Slalom was won by the French skier Patrick Russel. ^[6]

1982: Record attendance

On 20 March 1982, Bojan Križaj was the first Slovenian to win the World Cup at the home ground in front of a record crowd of 32,000 people. This record hasn't been broken yet at alpine skiing events in Slovenia, and it beat the record set at Ingemar Stenmark's event. ^{[7] [8]}

1983: New permanent course opened

On 29–30 January 1983, the Vitranc Cup competition was, for the last time, held on an old steep course above the old gas station, before moving to a new and now permanent course in nearby Podkoren, still in use today.

On 1–2 December 1983, the competition was, for the first time, held and permanently moved to the new "Podkoren 3" course nearby, constructed and designed by ex Slovenian skier Peter Lakota. The women's competition was held first, the next day was the men's race. It was the first and only time in history when Slovenia hosted the World Cup opening race for both men and women. This was also the first and only time when women competed for the Vitranc Cup. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

1985: Petrovič won infront of a home crowd

On 21 December 1985, Rok Petrovič celebrated the 2nd of his five World Cup career wins in his career, dominating the season, in front of a home crowd of 30,000 people. ^{[12] [13]}

1986: Double Slovenian win

On 20 December 1986, then Slovenian sports icons Bojan Križaj and Petrovič achieved a double Slovenian win, beating 3rd placed Ingemar Stenmark. ^[14]

Vitranc Cup Top 3 results

Men

Edition	Year	Date	Event	Winner	Second	Third
↓ FIS World Cup ↓
62nd	2023	12 March	GS	Marco Odermatt	Alexis Pinturault	Henrik Kristoffersen
		11 March	GS	Marco Odermatt	Henrik Kristoffersen	Alexis Pinturault
61st	2022	13 March	GS	Henrik Kristoffersen	Stefan Brennsteiner	Marco Odermatt
		12 March	GS	Henrik Kristoffersen	Lucas Braathen     Marco Odermatt
60th	2021	14 March	SL	Clément Noël	Victor Muffat-Jeandet	Ramon Zenhäusern
		13 March	GS	Marco Odermatt	Loïc Meillard	Stefan Brennsteiner
59th	2020	15 March	SL	cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
		14 March	GS
58th	2019	10 March	SL	Ramon Zenhäusern	Henrik Kristoffersen	Marcel Hirscher
		9 March	GS	Henrik Kristoffersen	Rasmus Windingstad	Marco Odermatt
57th	2018	4 March	SL	Marcel Hirscher	Henrik Kristoffersen	Ramon Zenhäusern
		3 March	GS	Marcel Hirscher	Henrik Kristoffersen	Alexis Pinturault
56th	2017	5 March	SL	Michael Matt	Stefano Gross	Felix Neureuther
		4 March	GS	Marcel Hirscher	Leif Kristian Haugen	Matts Olsson
55th	2016	6 March	SL	Marcel Hirscher	Henrik Kristoffersen	Stefano Gross
		5 March	GS	Marcel Hirscher	Alexis Pinturault	Henrik Kristoffersen
54th	2015	15 March	SL	Henrik Kristoffersen	Giuliano Razzoli	Mattias Hargin
		14 March	GS	Alexis Pinturault	Marcel Hirscher	Thomas Fanara
53rd	2014	9 March	SL	Felix Neureuther	Fritz Dopfer	Henrik Kristoffersen
		8 March	GS	Ted Ligety	Benjamin Raich	Henrik Kristoffersen
52nd	2013	10 March	SL	Ivica Kostelić	Marcel Hirscher	Mario Matt
		9 March	GS	Ted Ligety	Marcel Hirscher	Alexis Pinturault
51st	2012	11 March	SL	André Myhrer	Cristian Deville	Alexis Pinturault
		10 March	GS	Ted Ligety	Alexis Pinturault	Marcel Hirscher
50th	2011	6 March	SL	Mario Matt	Nolan Kasper Axel Bäck
		5 March	GS	Beat Feuz	Erik Guay	Michael Walchhofer
49th	2010	31 January	SL	Reinfried Herbst	Marcel Hirscher	Julien Lizeroux
		30 January	GS	Marcel Hirscher	Kjetil Jansrud	Ted Ligety
48th	2009	1 March	SL	Julien Lizeroux	Giuliano Razzoli	Felix Neureuther
		28 February	GS	Ted Ligety	Didier Cuche	Massimiliano Blardone
47th	2008	9 March	SL	Manfred Mölgg	Ivica Kostelić	Marcel Hirscher
		8 March	GS	Ted Ligety	Manfred Mölgg	Massimiliano Blardone
46th	2007	4 March	SL	Mario Matt	Benjamin Raich	Manfred Mölgg
		3 March	GS	Benjamin Raich	François Bourque	Massimiliano Blardone
45th	2005	22 December	SL	Giorgio Rocca	Thomas Grandi	Ted Ligety
		21 December	GS	Benjamin Raich	Massimiliano Blardone	Thomas Grandi
44th	2005	27 February	SL	Giorgio Rocca	André Myhrer	Benjamin Raich
		26 February	GS	Benjamin Raich	Hermann Maier	Kalle Palander
43rd	2004	29 February	SL	Truls Ove Karlsen	Tom Stiansen	Mario Matt
		28 February	GS	Bode Miller	Alberto Schieppati	Alexander Ploner
42nd	2003	5 January	SL	Ivica Kostelić	Rainer Schönfelder	Jean-Pierre Vidal
		4 January	GS	Bode Miller	Christian Mayer	Sami Uotila
41st	2001	22 December	SL	Jean-Pierre Vidal	Mario Matt	Ivica Kostelić
		21 December	GS	Benjamin Raich	Bode Miller	Didier Cuche
40th	2000	21 December	SL	lack of snow; replaced in Madonna di Campiglio (19 December)
		20 December	GS	lack of snow; replaced in Bormio (21 December)
39th	1999	21 December	SL	Didier Plaschy	Benjamin Raich	Thomas Stangassinger
38th	1999	6 January	SL	Jure Košir	Thomas Stangassinger	Benjamin Raich
		5 January	GS	Patrick Holzer	Christian Mayer	Hans Knauß
37th	1998	4 January	SL	Thomas Sykora	Pierrick Bourgeat	Thomas Stangassinger
		3 January	GS	Christian Mayer	Hermann Maier	Michael von Grünigen
36th	1997	6 January	SL	Thomas Sykora	Sébastien Amiez	Thomas Stangassinger
		5 January	GS	Michael von Grünigen	Siegfried Voglreiter	Kjetil André Aamodt
35th	1995	22 December	SL	Alberto Tomba	Jure Košir	Sébastien Amiez
		21 December	GS	Lasse Kjus	Michael von Grünigen	Mario Reiter
34th	1995	6 January	GS	Alberto Tomba	Mitja Kunc Harald Strand Nilsen
33rd	1994	9 January	SL	Finn Christian Jagge	Ole Kristian Furuseth	Thomas Fogdö
		8 January	GS	Fredrik Nyberg	Matteo Belfrond	Tobias Barnerssoi
32nd	1992	20 December	GS	Marc Girardelli	Lasse Kjus	Fredrik Nyberg
		19 December	SL	Thomas Fogdö	Alberto Tomba	Peter Roth
31st	1992	5 January	SL	Alberto Tomba	Armin Bittner	Finn Christian Jagge
		4 January	GS	Sergio Bergamelli	Hans Pieren	Alberto Tomba
30th	1990	22 December	SL	Ole Kristian Furuseth	Thomas Fogdö	Thomas Stangassinger
		21 December	GS	Alberto Tomba	Urs Kälin	Marc Girardelli
29th	1990	7 January	SL	Armin Bittner	Bernhard Gstrein	Paul Accola
		6 January	GS	cancelled and replaced at La Villa (14 January)
28th	1988	17 December	SL	Marc Girardelli	Armin Bittner	Alberto Tomba
27th	1987	20 December	SL	Alberto Tomba	Richard Pramotton	Günther Mader
		19 December	GS	Helmut Mayer	Pirmin Zurbriggen	Hubert Strolz
26th	1986	20 December	SL	Bojan Križaj	Rok Petrović	Ingemar Stenmark
		19 December	GS	Joël Gaspoz	Roberto Erlacher	Richard Pramotton
25th	1985	21 December	SL	Rok Petrovič	Jonas Nilsson	Thomas Stangassinger
		20 December	GS	Joël Gaspoz	Roberto Erlacher	Hubert Strolz
24th	1985	16 February	SL	Marc Girardelli	Ingemar Stenmark	Paul Frommelt Jonas Nilsson
		15 February	GS	Thomas Bürgler	Pirmin Zurbriggen	Marc Girardelli
23rd	1983	2 December	SL	Andreas Wenzel	Petar Popangelov	Paul Frommelt
22nd	1983	30 January	SL	Franz Gruber	Stig Strand	Michel Canac
		29 January	GS	Hans Enn	Max Julen	Ingemar Stenmark
21st	1982	20 March	SL	Bojan Križaj	Ingemar Stenmark	Franz Gruber
		19 March	GS	Phil Mahre	Hans Enn	Marc Girardelli
20th	1981	28 March	GS	lack of snow and high temperatures; replaced the same day at Laax
↓ FIS International ↓
19th	1979	15 December	SL	Bojan Križaj	Piero Gros	Bruno Nockler
		14 December	GS	Bojan Križaj	Bruno Nockler	Boris Strel
↓ FIS World Cup ↓
18th	1978	22 December	GS	Ingemar Stenmark	Peter Lüscher	Bojan Križaj
		21 December	SL	Ingemar Stenmark	Paul Frommelt	Leonardo David
↓ FIS International ↓
17th	1977	22 December	SL	Anton Steiner	Mauro Bernardi	Manfred Brunner
		21 December	GS	Mauro Bernardi	Hans Enn	Bojan Križaj
↓ FIS World Cup ↓
16th	1976	21 December	SL	high temperatures; replaced at Laax (3 January 1977)
↓ FIS Europa Cup ↓
15th	1976	11 January	SL	Andreas Arnold	Bartl Gensbichler	Jorge García
↓ FIS International ↓
14th	1975	14 April	SL	F. Fernández Ochoa	Mauro Bernardi	Johann Kniewasser
		13 April	GS	F. Fernández Ochoa	Manfred Brunner	Herbert Plank
↓ FIS World Cup ↓
↑ see ↑	1974	20 December	GS	lack of snow; rescheduled to 13–14 April 1975 (see 14th edition)
↓ FIS Europa Cup ↓
13th	1974	11 January	SL	cancelled due to lack of snow
		10 January	GS
12th	1973	7 January	SL	Claude Perrot	Gustav Thöni	Alfred Matt
		6 January	GS	Gustav Thöni	Helmuth Schmalzl	Hansi Hinterseer
11th	1972	5 January	SL	Andrzej Bachleda	Alain Penz	Rick Chaffee
		4 January	GS	Werner Mattle	Alain Penz	Sepp Heckelmiller
↓ FIS International ↓
10th	1971	21 February	SL	Gérard Bonnevie	N. P. Pouteil	Hubert Berchtold
		20 February	GS	Sergio Filippo	N. P. Pouteil	Jean Louis Ambroise
9th2	1970	22 January	SL	Peter Frei	Hans Bjorge	Dumeng Giovanoli
↓ FIS World Cup ↓
9th1	1970	21 January	GS	Dumeng Giovanoli	Patrick Russel	Georges Mauduit
8th	1969	17 February	SL	Edmund Bruggmann	Alain Penz	Herbert Huber
		16 February	GS	Reinhard Tritscher	Alfred Matt	Franz Digruber
7th 2	1968	10 March	SL	Patrick Russel	Franz Digruber	Stefan Kälin
↓ FIS International ↓
7th 1	1968	9 March	GS	Stefan Kälin	Stefan Sodat	Enrico Demetz
↓ FIS 1A International ↓
6th	1967	12 March	SL	Alain Blanchard	Andrzej Bachleda	Patrick Russel
		11 March	GS	Eberhard Riedel	Ernst Scherzer	Harald Stüfer
5th	1966	20 February	SL	Guy Périllat	Karl Schranz	Ludwig Leitner
		19 February	GS	Werner Bleiner	Guy Périllat	Karl Schranz
4th	1965	28 February	SL	Michel Arpin	Franz Digruber	E. Maudit
		27 February	GS	Edmund Bruggmann	Felice De Nicolo	Michel Arpin
3rd	1964	1 March	SL	Michel Arpin	Franz Digruber	Ernst Scherzer
		29 February	GS	Jean-Claude Killy	Willy Favre	Beat von Allmen
2nd	1963	3 March	SL	Josef Stiegler	Jean-Claude Killy	Hias Leitner
		2 March	GS	Georges Mauduit	Robert Grunenfelder	Jean-Claude Killy
1st	1961	5 March	SL	Ernst Falch	Josef Stiegler	Helmut Schranz
		4 March	GS	Josef Stiegler	Joseph Behr	Helmut Gartner

Women

At the start of the season, women for the first and only time in the history of this competition, raced for the "Vitranc Cup". ^[15]

Edition	Year	Date	Event	Winner	Second	Third
↓ FIS World Cup ↓
23rd	1983	1 December	SL	Erika Hess	Tamara McKinney	Małgorzata Tlałka

Substitute events

Kranjska Gora replaced 6 cancelled men's events from other countries, which aren't considered Vitranc Cup events:

• 4 Mar 2016 – Henrik Kristoffersen won the Friday additional giant slalom. Venue replaced: Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER). ^[16]
• 29 Jan 2010 – Ted Ligety won the Friday additional giant slalom. Venue replaced: Adelboden (SUI). ^[17]
• 20 Dec 2001 – Fredrik Nyberg won the Friday additional giant slalom. Venue replaced: Aspen (USA). ^[18]
• 8 Mar 2000 – Christian Mayer won the extra giant slalom. Venue replaced: Adelboden (SUI). ^{[19] [20]}
• 6 Jan 1990 – Jonas Nilsson won the Saturday additional slalom. Venue replaced: Madonna di Campiglio (ITA). ^[21]
• 3 Jan 1986 – Joël Gaspoz won the extra giant slalom. Venue replaced: Borovets (BUL). ^[22]

Multiple winners

With at least two wins or more.

Total	Skier	SL	GS
6	Marcel Hirscher	2	4
5	Ted Ligety	0	5
	Alberto Tomba	3	2
4	Benjamin Raich	4	0
	Henrik Kristoffersen	1	3
	Bojan Križaj	3	1
3	Marc Girardelli	2	1
2	Josef Stiegler	1	1
	Michel Arpin	2	0
	Francisco Fernández Ochoa	1	1
	Ingemar Stenmark	1	1
	Thomas Sykora	2	0
	Bode Miller	0	2
	Giorgio Rocca	2	0
	Mario Matt	2	0
	Ivica Kostelić	2	0
	Joël Gaspoz	0	2

Club5+

In 1986, the elite Club5 was originally established by 5 prestigious and classic downhill organizers: Kitzbühel, Wengen, Garmisch, Val d’Isère and Val Gardena/Gröden, with the goal to bring alpine ski sports to the highest levels possible. ^[23]

Later, over the years, other classic long-term organizers joined the now renamed Club5+: Alta Badia, Cortina, Kranjska Gora, Maribor, Lake Louise, Schladming, Adelboden, Kvitfjell, St.Moritz and Åre. ^[24]

References

1. "Vitranc memories" (in Slovenian). Delo. 23 February 2011.
2. "Official results from first ever Vitranc Cup event (GS 1961)" (PDF) (in Slovenian). pokal-vitranc.com. 4 March 1961.
3. "Prvi zmagovalec avtrijec Stiegler (page 15)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 5 March 1961.
4. "Fotografski utrinki iz veleslaloma (page 11)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 5 March 1961.
5. "Od morilskega smuka do poligona" (in Slovenian). Dnevnik. 23 October 2012.
6. "Slalom Russelu" (in Slovenian). Delo. 11 March 1968.
7. "V finišu svetovnega pokala Križaj zmagal na Vitrancu" (in Slovenian). Delo. 11 March 1968.
8. "V panju Vitranca se je tudi Stenmark počutil kot Slovenec" (in Slovenian). MMC RTV Slovenija. 2 March 2011.
9. "Osemnajsti svetovni pokal začenjajo danes tekmovalke (page 6)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 1 December 1983.
10. "Erika Hess nenadkriljiva v strmini.... (page 9)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 2 December 1983.
11. "Ponovil se je nesrečni januar 1983... (page 5)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 3 December 1983.
12. "Nepozaben smučarski praznik v Kranjski Gori (stran 1)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 23 December 1985.
13. "Petrovič junak tudi v domači Kranjski Gori(stran 9)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 23 December 1985.
14. "Naša nepozabna slalomska dneva (page 9)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 22 December 1986.
15. "Smer: Kranjska Gora (page 9)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 28 November 1986.
16. "Žan Kranjec v finale s 16. časom, vodi Francoz Pinturault" (in Slovenian). ekipa.svet24.si. 4 March 2016.
17. "Ted Ligety je zmagal v Kranjski Gori, Slovenci so razočarali" (in Slovenian). Dnevnik. 29 January 2010.
18. "Za 41. Pokal Vitranc vse pripravljeno (page 12)" (in Slovenian). Gorenjski glas. 18 December 2001.
19. "Kranjskogorčani željni dokazovanja (page 6)" (in Slovenian). Gorenjski glas. 7 March 2000.
20. "Rada imava slovenski sneg (page 23)" (in Slovenian). Gorenjski glas. 10 March 2000.
21. "Sobotna tekma je bila povsem naša, z Madonno pa jo je povezal zmagovalec" (in Slovenian). Delo. 8 January 1990.
22. "Bela karavana se je sešla, kjer se je decembra razšla (page 6)" (in Slovenian). Delo. 3 January 1986.
23. "Srečko Medven predsednik elitnega združenje (page 9)" (in Slovenian). Naše novice. June 2010.
24. "Club5+ workshop in Adelboden". saslong.org. 23 October 2021.

External links

• Official website