Only 80 kilometres from the previous IFSC World Cup in Chamonix in France, lead and speed athletes will cross the border for the two-day event.

In the women’s lead competition, Slovenian youngster Janja Garnbret will be looking to protect her first-place ranking from seasoned athletes such as South Korea’s Jain Kim and Belgium’s Anak Verhoeven, who had to settle for silver in Chamonix earlier this month. 

Garnbret’s compatriot Domen Skofic is continuing to make his presence known on the men’s lead circuit, having topped the podium in Chamonix.

He will, however, have to contend with experienced athletes like Stefano Ghisolfi of Italy and Jakob Schubert of Austria, both of whom also impressed at the first World Cup of the season. 

After qualifying for his third consecutive speed final earlier this week, Libor Hroza of the Czech Republic will fight to retain his top seeding in Villars. 

Poland’s Marcin Dzienski looked unstoppable in Chamonix, and both he and the powerful Reza Alipourshenazandifar of Iran will be aiming to unseat Hroza.

France’s Anouck Jaubert comes into the women’s speed competition after defending her Chamonix title in front of a home crowd. 

Runner-up Aleksandra Rudzińska of Poland will look to go one better in Villars, while top-ranked Iuliia Kaplina of Russia will try to steal the momentum from them both after missing the previous finals.

Action in Villars is scheduled to begin tomorrow with the men’s and women’s lead and speed qualifications, and the men’s and women’s speed finals. 

On Saturday (July 16), the men’s and women’s lead semi-finals and finals are due to be held.