Lofer – Over the weekend, Lofer, Austria, will host the first tests for the 2014 World Cup canoe descent, with the first three races in Lofer, followed by the grand finale in Vienna. Today there is the first classic round; on Saturday it will be the turn of the qualifying and final rounds for sprint; while on Sunday there will be the third and penultimate round of the circuit. The Italian coach Robert Pontarollo has called on champions Constanza Bonaccorsi (K1) alongside Viola Risso, Beatrice Grasso and Mathilde Rosa, and Chiara Carbognin (C1) alongside Marlene Ricciardi. In the men’s K1, Pontarollo called on Pierpaolo Bonato, team bronze in the K1 sprint in Valtellina, as captain of the team composed of Federico Urbani, Stefano Scremin, Salvatore Cinque and Riccardo Mattiello. For the men’s C1, provided they graduate from high-school, Giorgio dell’Agostino and Mattia Quintarelli will race; while in the C2 there will be Federico Fasoli and Vladi Panato. (9Colonne)
