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World Cup 2021?

AlpsSkidad

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an update to my post yesterday- while they quoted up to 7 days for the PCR test results, I was pleasantly surprised to have the results (negative) this morning, just 24 hours later.
Therefore, while clearly a hassle, it seems realistic to test prior to flying and get the results.
 

Primoz

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Will European countries require 14 day quarantine for athletes returning from Beaver Creek and Lake Louise?
Not sure for Lake Louise, but pretty sure the answer is yes for Beaver Creek. At least the way things stand at the moment, which also mean, I'm pretty sure there's not going to be any races outside of Europe if things don't change drastically.
You could get around this with a negative test.
Not really. It depends from country to country, regardless of EU, but at least for Slovenia, as USA is on red list, anyone coming from USA has obligatory 14 days quarantine, with few exceptions, but none would fit for ski racers, coaches, techs and/or anyone else traveling with WC tour. Negative, less then 36h old test made inside of EU or Schengen area (this renders tests made in USA useless) is obligatory for those exceptions, while if you don't fit into those exceptions, no test will make you avoid 14 days quarantine.
We will see how things will evolve in next few months to first race (Soelden is moved 1 week earlier to avoid mixing WC tour with tourists), but honestly, I don't really think this will be anything like normal season, if there will be season at all. Situation is slowly getting worse, with more and more infections everywhere, and it's still summer, when things are easy. Once autumn and season of normal influenza will close by, things will get just worse in my opinion, so honestly, I don't really have much hopes for this racing season. But then I might have more time for my own skiing :)
 
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Not sure for Lake Louise, but pretty sure the answer is yes for Beaver Creek. At least the way things stand at the moment, which also mean, I'm pretty sure there's not going to be any races outside of Europe if things don't change drastically.

Not really. It depends from country to country, regardless of EU, but at least for Slovenia, as USA is on red list, anyone coming from USA has obligatory 14 days quarantine, with few exceptions, but none would fit for ski racers, coaches, techs and/or anyone else traveling with WC tour. Negative, less then 36h old test made inside of EU or Schengen area (this renders tests made in USA useless) is obligatory for those exceptions, while if you don't fit into those exceptions, no test will make you avoid 14 days quarantine.
We will see how things will evolve in next few months to first race (Soelden is moved 1 week earlier to avoid mixing WC tour with tourists), but honestly, I don't really think this will be anything like normal season, if there will be season at all. Situation is slowly getting worse, with more and more infections everywhere, and it's still summer, when things are easy. Once autumn and season of normal influenza will close by, things will get just worse in my opinion, so honestly, I don't really have much hopes for this racing season. But then I might have more time for my own skiing :)
Well that would be unfortunate. There’s plenty of technology in testing available to make that unnecessary. You could do a 3-day quarantine with testing before travel and everyday after.

But, with World Cup there’s so many countries involved. At present, we can’t even go to Canada in a Zorb.
zorb-balls-500x50025-500x500.jpg
 

Rudi Riet

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See my latest thread re: no North American World Cup races this November and December.

So no races in Killington, Lake Louise, or Beaver Creek.

Now let's see which athletes from North American teams will be able to get to the EU to compete. In the pro cycling ranks it was all about having a proper work visa in order to get back overseas.
 

Muleski

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See my latest thread re: no North American World Cup races this November and December.

So no races in Killington, Lake Louise, or Beaver Creek.

Now let's see which athletes from North American teams will be able to get to the EU to compete. In the pro cycling ranks it was all about having a proper work visa in order to get back overseas.

The USST is hard at work on visa’s, and have been for some time. I hear that some of the European federations are actually being quite helpful in that regard. In Austria, for example the head of the federation and the Prime Minister {I think that’s his title} are close friends. So, trying to cut red tape.

Could be a show stopper for CAST and USST. And, with no cross border travel between Canada and USA, what happens to NorAms?

Lots of scenario planning and talking underway.
 

Primoz

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So no races in Killington, Lake Louise, or Beaver Creek.
Now let's see which athletes from North American teams will be able to get to the EU to compete. In the pro cycling ranks it was all about having a proper work visa in order to get back overseas.
Yeah just came back from my mtb "inspection" of my favorite ski place in Austria (only 50km loop but almost 3000m of ascend... Polar says it was same amount of descent too but I'm not sure I noticed it as I remember just climbing all the time :D) and when I checked phone there was FIS msg... no North American races this year (no info yet about China).
As for North American athletes, I don't think it should be much of problem. Ok I admit I don't know all the details as I'm simply not really interested in this enough to bother to search, but as far as I understood, travel is still allowed, but you need 10-14 days quarantine, depending on country. Since most of US and Canada guys and girls are over here most of winter anyway, I don't think it should be that much of an issue flying over here, get over with 14 days quarantine and then race "normal" season. I'm not saying it would be easy, nor cheap to stay here for half year in one piece, but I would say it could be doable.
But I'm still not really sure there will be any kind of season, or in best case, and there will be (some) races, it will be really really weird one.
 

SkiSpeed

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From USSA email

FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP TO REMAIN IN EUROPE


After extended discussions between U.S. Ski & Snowboard, the Canadian Snowsports Association, the International Ski Federation (FIS), and the local organizing committees in Canada and the USA, together with all stakeholders, all parties have come to the joint decision that the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup tour, for the 2020-21 season, will remain in Europe in late November. Traditionally, the tour comes to North America during this time of year. Those events will be rescheduled and relocated to venues in France and Switzerland. Impacted 2020 events include:

The World Cup will return to these sites for the 2021-22 season. Decisions for all other FIS World Cup events will be made independently and based on an assessment of each unique set of circumstances, including the risks and travel requirements related to each event and host country, as well as time needed between competitions to accommodate for COVID-19 protocols.

The objective of FIS is to carry out a full World Cup competition program, protecting the health and welfare of all participants to the best extent possible. The temporary realignment of the FIS Alpine World Cup Calendar in 2020-21 caters to this goal by focusing on athlete safety, reducing travel, and providing competitors with a detailed competition calendar. All parties jointly agreed to make this decision early to aid in developing the adjusted calendars during the next month before the FIS Technical Committee Meetings in late September.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard has created an organizational COVID-19 task force, as well as sport specific committees, made up of staff with representation from membership at the regional and national levels, in order to address and inform what the 2020-21 season will look like. Public health orders are constantly changing at the local, state, and federal levels. With the health and safety of our members, athletes, staff, and volunteers in mind, we are working closely with our venue partners across the country to assess and plan for the upcoming season.

For more information, including specific FIS Alpine World Cup calendar adjustments, read the full press release here: https://www.usskiandsnowboard.org/news/fis-alpine-world-cup-remain-europe.
 

Rudi Riet

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As for North American athletes, I don't think it should be much of problem. Ok I admit I don't know all the details as I'm simply not really interested in this enough to bother to search, but as far as I understood, travel is still allowed, but you need 10-14 days quarantine, depending on country.

The U.S. is on a zero entry policy throughout the EU right now, save for people who have an active work visa in place. I have friends in the UCI Pro Tour cycling community who either were able to get back easily or were denied entry because their paperwork wasn't completely in order. For the latter, that means no bike racing for the remainder of the 2020 season.

I realize that USST and CAST are working furiously to secure work visas for their athletes, but there's no guarantee that these athletes will get approved for every country visited by the World Cup tour. That could be a real spanner in the works.
 

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It's a bit of a mess in Europe right now re who can go where and who has to quarantine. A moving target as many politicians has come up with calculations to decide when a country/region is "safe" and when it's "forbidden". It changes from week to week. 2020 ... what a shit year.
 

Rudi Riet

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It's a bit of a mess in Europe right now re who can go where and who has to quarantine. A moving target as many politicians has come up with calculations to decide when a country/region is "safe" and when it's "forbidden". It changes from week to week. 2020 ... what a shit year.

Yup. Again, I'll turn to the UCI cycling scene, where the 2020 UCI Road World Championships were cancelled a couple weeks ago because of Swiss regulations regarding crowd sizes. Meanwhile, races continue apace in France and Italy, as well as national championship events throughout the EU.

Like you say, @Swede: it's a moving target.
 

Seldomski

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If the athletes were restricted to one country in Europe, which would be the best to set up shop? Which has the most race venues and with enough variety for a 'good enough' season?
 

Rudi Riet

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If the athletes were restricted to one country in Europe, which would be the best to set up shop? Which has the most race venues and with enough variety for a 'good enough' season?

So tough to say, given fluctuations in snow levels.
 

Swede

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If the athletes were restricted to one country in Europe, which would be the best to set up shop? Which has the most race venues and with enough variety for a 'good enough' season?

Can't say which is 'the best', but any country out of France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland has enough venues to set up a mini season.
 

Rudi Riet

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Can't say which is 'the best', but any country out of France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland has enough venues to set up a mini season.

Then you pick the one least likely to have restrictions on crowd size. So Austria, Italy, and France are the most likely places to go. Given snow issues, look for places with high altitude venues - France may be the winner here.
 

Primoz

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If the athletes were restricted to one country in Europe, which would be the best to set up shop?
Definitely Austria and only Austria.... simply because only in AUSTRIA, OSV can dictate politicians what to do. Everywhere else, skiing is low level sport, and noone will make. exceptions because of skiing or skiers, but in Austria, it's actually possible that OSV president tells Austrian PM what to do :D
@Rudi Riet as I wrote, I'm not 100% sure, and even less for EU wide, as every country does things on their own, but as far as I understood Slovenian rule, you should be able to get to Slovenia from USA, but with 14 days obligatory quarantine (there's few exceptions where negative test made in EU should suffice, but none of them is related to sport or athletes so thats not relevant). But it's true that whats ok for Slovenia doesn't mean a thing for Austria or France or any other country.
 

Rudi Riet

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@Rudi Riet as I wrote, I'm not 100% sure, and even less for EU wide, as every country does things on their own, but as far as I understood Slovenian rule, you should be able to get to Slovenia from USA, but with 14 days obligatory quarantine (there's few exceptions where negative test made in EU should suffice, but none of them is related to sport or athletes so thats not relevant). But it's true that whats ok for Slovenia doesn't mean a thing for Austria or France or any other country.

Slovenia is no longer allowing U.S. citizens to enter the country, at least as of August 17 (the latest list I've found). Croatia does allow U.S. travelers as long as they have proof of lodging and have a negative COVID test result within 48 hours of arrival.

But the U.S. passport will be the non-starter in quite a few EU countries unless a valid work visa is present. It'll be tough.

And @Muleski is spot-on with regard to Nor-Am races, given Canada isn't allowing U.S. citizens to cross the border (and is being very strict with Canadian nationals who work in the U.S. - many are being turned away trying to return to Canada).
 

Primoz

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Slovenia is no longer allowing U.S. citizens to enter the country, at least as of August 17 (the latest list I've found).
That's not how I understand our governments thing regarding this. Based on this how I understand it, 14 days obligatory quarantine is in place for everyone coming to Slovenia from any country on red list (USA is on red list), but I don't think you are not allowed to enter.
But then again, I'm not lawyer so it could be things are actually different then I imagine.
But either way... I'm sure they can easily made WC season without US races, but honestly I don't think they can make season without US racers. I mean maybe they can, but that's not gonna be WC season then in my opinion.
 

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This changes monthly, weekly, daily. This is NOT a political statement, at all, but the USST/USSA as the NGB of the sport needs to be supported by "our government". The State Department for example. I had heard some "chatter" that I consider to be from a few people who are typically in the know, and I believe that the best entry point and most support for the USST will be coming from Austria, from OSV. Primoz is on the money. Those who run OSV can essentially "request" what they want/need from their government and get it. All day long.

Right now Americans are banned from entraining all EU countries. The USA was not among the 14 countries able to visit the EU, as of July 1st. I guess some countries may be more restrictive. I'm not up on the details. I know it's problem, as of right now.

Hopefully that may change. Our testing for these athletes is going to have to be demonstrably "better", in terms of timing and accuracy. Just what I am hearing.
 

Rudi Riet

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Yup. The testing needs to be better and more frequent. It can't just be temperature checks that don't catch asymptomatic carriers; the tests need to be full-on nasal swab tests. And then the labs that conduct the tests need to be both accurate and fast - a combination that's proving very difficult right now.

The U.S. State Department isn't doing a whole lot to reassure other countries of the fitness to travel by U.S. citizens. It hasn't since COVID arrived, and the country is still lacking a coordinated national effort to slow the spread of things. It's, to put it bluntly, not the least bit reassuring to other countries.

OSV will definitely flex their political muscle, but Austria has also been pinpointed by EU regulators about letting certain key pandemic indicators slip. While EU countries have some flexibility in allowing non-EU citizens enter their countries, there isn't complete flexibility to determine who can and can't enter during this pandemic. Thus the critical need for active work permits and visas to enter EU countries. These visas are exceedingly tough to obtain right now because contact tracing here in the States is next to non-existent (it's on a state-by-state basis and some are far better than others).

Furthermore, the "bubbles" in which athletes train make contact tracing much harder. USST has done things with a fairly tight level of control and testing, but it's impossible to be perfect - and EU health officials want to see standards as stringent (if not more so) than current EU residents face in order to allow outsiders into their borders.

The UCI pro bike racers from the U.S. who returned to the EU for the season made sure to arrive many weeks ahead of their first scheduled team training sessions, let alone their first races. They were tested multiple times before leaving the U.S., along with required full contact tracing (this latter part derailed a few athletes' seasons). After arrival, more tests and a lot of self-quarantine.

And now at the races there are other vectors considered. All support staff undergo almost daily testing. Same with members of the media who travel between races. Quarantine zones are setup, anyone who fails a COVID test is immediately put into exile away from the rest of the team.

And then there are the fans, who are asked to maintain physical distance, wear masks, etc. But fans will be fans, and they will do the dumb things: run alongside racers as they pedal, touch the athletes, crowd around them pre- and post-race looking for photo ops and autographs. At least two teams (Ineos and Jumbo-Visma) complained about crowding around the athletes at recent races in France (Italy is being much more stringent with regard to fans access to start and finish areas). The UCI addressed this with race organizers, to what level of success is unknown.

And it doesn't take a lot to get a virus spreading among athletes, especially during competition season when they are physically taxed and their immune systems constantly put to the test. Any cold, any flu, any GI distress can pass through a pro cycling team (or a ski team) very quickly and with devastating effects. Given teams - by they bicycling, skiing, hockey, whatever - will be traveling in "bubbles" all season, it doesn't take much to upset the apple cart.

Just my $0.02, but USST (and CAST to a somewhat lesser extent) has quite the hurdle to overcome over the next 6 to 8 weeks as it tries to get its World and Europa Cup athletes overseas.
 

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