Shortly after their final race in Tacen, athletes were already on the road en- route to L’Argentiere, hosts of the next ICF Canoe Slalom World Cup. L’Argentiere is a sub-community of Pays des Ecrins L’Argentiere Canoe Slalom Course which sits on the Durance River and is used for kayaking, white-water rafting and other water sports. Thirty-seven nations from 5 continents are expected to compete from 2nd to 3rd July, making this event one of the highest contested ICF events this season. Most of the athletes that competed in Tacen have already arrived in l’Argentiere and have begun to train, emphasizing the importance of these ICF World Cup series.

The World Cup season opener in Tacen, bore minimal surprises. In the Men’s categories most of the expected winners took home medals or just nearly fell out of a podium place, but In the Women’s categories, none of the previous years’ World Champions gained a place on the podium!

There were a few notable faces that were missing at the first World Cup, namely Canoe Slalom’s rival athletes Michal Martikan (SVK) and Tony Estanguet (FRA); the fans will have to wait just a little longer to catch sight of these two as Martikan has taken the decision to skip the World Cups entirely and Estanguet, the newly crowned European Champion will only be joining the circuit in Markleeberg. When asked about his season preparation Estanguet said,

After four difficult years, I am really glad to be able to win the European championship (in La Seu de Urgell -Spain) to start the new season. I need to focus now on the following races: the World Cup in Markleeberg, the test event in London and the World's. I will be motivated at the German World Cup because I've never raced in Markkleeberg and it is always interesting form me to discover a new slalom course. Afterwards, I look forward to paddling on the London Olympic course for the test event and finally, I will focus all my energy in the September Cunovo's objective to obtain the Olympic quotas.

Confirmed and already training in L’Argentiere is another Men’s K1 personality Peter Kauzer. After his success last weekend in Tacen, Kauzer made it on to the front page of all the national newspapers in his home country of Slovenia. On the Women’s side, Jana Dukatova (SVK) is also in L’Argentiere; she had a great start to the season winning a Silver medal in the European Championships, but she will be looking to put behind her 6th Place finish in Tacen and re-emerge once again as a World Cup series contender this year. Speaking about her goals this season Dukatova told the ICF, “My goal and focus this season are the Games. I want to be in good form in London at the end of July because this is when the Slovak team selection will be made for the Olympic Games. The Last time it was very difficult for me when I didn’t qualify, but I was competing for one place against Olympic Champion Elena Kaliska and this time around it will not be any easier because I will be competing against double Olympic Champion Elena Kaliska, but I expect to be in good form and ready.”

Corinna Kuhnle (AUT) and her teammate Violette Oblinger Peters equally had a sub-par weekend in Tacen, the former placing out of a spot on the podium and the latter finishing 12th in the semi-final; both will be looking to revamp their season’s campaign. We will be looking to Jasmin Schornberg (GER), to contend for a podium place in L’Argentiere as well as her teammate Tacen Gold medallist Melanie Pfeifer, who will be set on defending her position on the rankings table.

In the C1 event, Great Britain’s David Florence conquered his competition in Tacen in one of the best finals of the event, he will no doubt be looking to maintain his good form and challenge in this weekend’s World Cup. The Women’s C1 category continues to be dominated by the Australian ladies - Rosalyn Lawrence and Leanne Guinea both topped the times of their challengers with a convincing Gold and Silver medal ahead of third place Katarina Macova (SVK). They will continue to vie for their positions this weekend along with the new entrants that skipped Tacen.

In Men’s C2 the “usual suspects” Hochschorners and Skantars of Slovakia were again at the helm of the podium in Tacen, taking Gold and Bronze respectively. Biso & Picco (FRA) took 2nd place and will be expected to be serious contenders again in their home turf of France. The duo of Hu-Shu (CHI) was not in Tacen but are expected back in action this weekend along with Stepanek & Volf (CZE).

Coverage of the finals will be LIVE on Eurosport with livestreaming on http://www.canoeicf.com.

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