Chabot and Eiter win World Cup Difficulty in Imst

Alexander Chabot and Angela Eiter won the second stage of the World Cup Difficulty 2004 held in Imst, last weekend.

May 2004

Imst 30/05/2004. Alexander Chabot and Angela Eiter won the second stage of the World Cup Difficulty 2004 held in Imst last weekend. The Frenchman beat long standing rival Tomas Mrazek by the skin of his teeth, while Eiter confirmed her 2003 appearance. Teammate Bettina SchÃ¶pf placed second, while Muriel Sarkany placed only third.

Chabot, once again, walked away from Austria with the top prize, but only just: Mrazek mirrored the Frenchman's efforts by topping out in the Semi-Final (together with Fischhuber, Usobiaga, Crespi and Puigblanque) and touching the same hold in the Final. Consequently the two were split on Chabot's better qualification round, which had by no means been a walkover; only he, Usobiaga and Puigblanque had managed to clinch the top hold. But, if consolation is needed, Mrazek's second place puts him in provisional lead, followed by none other than quiet Swiss CÃ©dric Lachat, who finished third in Imst.

Angela Eiter and teammate Bettina SchÃ¶pf took full advantage of the home crowd, placing first and second respectively, leaving only third place for Muriel Sarkany. The Belgian is currently in overall lead, but Eiter trails a mere 5 points behind. As previously announced, this will no doubt be the Leitmotif of the 2004 season.

The next stage of the World Cup will be held in Chamonix on 12-13 July, a fortnight after the European Championship in Lecco.

Results men Imst (AUT)
1 Chabot Alexandre FRA
2 Mrazek Tomas CZE
3 Lachat CÃ©dric SUI
4 Fischhuber Kilian AUT
5 Pouvreau GÃ©rome FRA
6 Usobiaga Patxi ESP
7 Crespi Flavio ITA
8 Puigblanque RamÃ³n JuliÃ¡
9 Fichtinger Reinhard AUT
10 Millet Sylvain FRA
11 Fuselier Mickael FRA
12 Petrenko Maxim UKR
13 Zardini Luca ITA
14 Verhoeven Jorg NED
15 Desgranges Romain FRA
16 Reis JÃ¼rgen AUT
17 Legrand Yannick FRA
18 Bindhammer Andreas GER
19 Bindhammer Christian GER
20 Valjavec Tomaz SLO
21 Vinokur Vadim USA
22 Lagni Bernardino ITA

Results women Imst (AUT)
1 Eiter Angela AUT
2 SchÃ¶pf Bettina AUT
3 Sarkany Muriel BEL
4 Levet Sandrine FRA
5 StÃ¶hr Anna AUT
6 Saurwein Katharina
7 Franko Lucjia SLO
8 Martin Delphine FRA
9 Januel Caroline FRA
10 Lavarda Jenny ITA
10 Bacher Barbara AUT
12 Eyer Alexandra SUI
13 Vidmar Katja SLO
14 Graftiaux Chloe BEL
14 Crouvizier Stephanie FRA
14 Iovane Luisa ITA