Ramón Julian Puigblanque and Angela Eiter win in Aprica

The fifth stage of the World Cup Difficulty 2003 was won by Ramón Julian Puigblanque and Angela Eiter

October 2003

Nothing should ever be taken for granted. This was done for too long the Difficulty event, which risked becoming a prisoner of its regular, monotonous, invetable finals. With the same victors, over and over again: Alexandre Chabot in the men's event and, slightly less domineering, Muriel Sarkany in the women's event. But 2003 slowly eroded away at the immutable and... fatal duo, up to Aprica. Because the fifth stage of the World Cup was won last weekend by Angela Eiter and Julian RamÃ³n Puigblanque. A novelty indeed, finally. What had been in the air for a while, with its innumerous small signals, has finally become reality.

Angela Eiter, who exploded onto the scene at last week's Rock Master, repeated her impressive performance on Aprica's gigantic roof this Saturday. Her three tops speak of true class, of an impeccable and determined style of ascent. And although it's been said before, we'll say it again: a new star has been born. It's worth remembering however that the World Cup is exactly this, a demanding series and not simply a single event. And so Eiter's provisional 11th place shouldn't really trouble Muriel Sarkany who, admittedly, placed "only" third, but managed to beat closest rival ChloÃ© Minoret. The frenchwoman is now under pressure from her teammate Sandrine Levet who placed a splendid second in Aprica. The remaining female finalists newcomer Caroline Ciavaldini, Alexandra Eyer, Barbara Bacher and Damaris Knorr, placed fifth to eigth respectively. Surprise exits included Martina Cufar (11th), Bettina SchÃ¶pf (12th) and last year's winner in Aprica Emilie Pouget (16th) but, as all know, their national squads have other athletes up their sleeves...

Talking of which, the French domination in the men's event is as strong, or possibly even stronger than ever before, with 3 athletes in the top four, 4 in the top 8 and a staggering 6 in the top 12. 50%. This isn't new, certainly, but it just goes to show that nothing comes by chance and years of preparation bring their just rewards... However, the final saw "featherweight" RamÃ³n Julian Puigblanque, alias Ramonet, climb three meters higher than Alexandre Chabot who had to make do - for the first time this season and for the second time in two years - with a rare second place... The two are split by 112 points and, mathematically, the title is still up for grabs. Much depends on Chabot, and the Frenchman will probably show no signs of letting up: here in Aprica he was the only athlete to top out in the Semifinal. Only his adversaries can make a difference therefore and, more so than ever before, they have begun to close this gap. We'll have to wait and see. In the meantime, while TomÃ¡s Mrazek slipped up and placed 25th, FranÃ§ois Auclair and French newcomer (yet another!) Mickael Fuselier placed third and fourth. GÃ©rome Pouvreau placed 8th, while Yevgen Krivocheicev, Iouri Douloub and Patxi Usobiaga split the power house to place fifth to seventh respectively.

RESULTS MEN - APRICA
Â	Â	Â	Qual.	Semif.	Final
1	J. Puigblanque RamÃ³n	ESP	47.00	44.00	57.90
2	Chabot Alexandre	FRA	46.00 top	51.00 top	54.90
3	Auclair FranÃ§ois	FRA	46.00 top	44.00	51.90
4	Fuselier Mickael	FRA	46.00 top	45.10	50.00
5	Krivocheicev Yevgen	UKR	47.00	44.90	47.00
6	Douloub Iouri	RUS	46.00 top	43.90	45.90
7	Lisobiaga Patxi	ESP	47.00	44.00	45.00
8	Pouvreau GÃ©rome	FRA	47.00	45.00	33.00
9	Marin Garcia Eduard	ESP	38.00	43.90
10	Caude David	FRA	44.90	43.00
11	Ovtchinnikov Evgueni	RUS	47.00	42.50
12	Millet Sylvain	FRA	46.00 top	42.00
13	Crespi Flavio	ITA	42.90	42.00

RESULTS MEN - APRICA
Â	Â	Â	Qual.	Semif.	Final
1	Eiter Angela	AUT	40.00	64.00 top	top
2	Levet Sandrine	FRA	40.00	64.00 top	76.90
3	Sarkany Muriel	BEL	40.00	64.00 top	75.00
4	Minoret ChloÃ©	FRA	40.00	63.90	60.10
5	Ciavaldini Caroline	FRA	40.00	64.00	58.00
6	Eyer Alexandra	SUI	40.00	62.00	57.00
7	Bacher Barbara	AUT	40.00	64.00 top	56.90
8	Knorr Damaris	GER	40.00	61.90	55.00
9	Kosmac Ana	SLO	37.10	59.90
10	SchÃ¶pf Bettina	AUT	35.00	59.00