2024 GWA Wingfoil World Cup Fuerteventura - Preview
by Ian MacKinnon 19 Jul 2024 01:13 AEST
19-24 July 2024
2023 GWA Wingfoil World Cup Fuerteventura, day 3 © Lukas K Stiller
The battle for the Surf-Freestyle and FreeFly-Slalom world titles is set to move up a gear when the GWA Wingfoil World Cup Fuerteventura returns on the Spanish island for six days of intense competition.
With the Surf-Freestyle discipline's tour reaching the third stop of a scheduled four in Playa de Sotovento, the athletes will have to up their game to unseat the reigning world champions and teenaged tour leaders, Spain's Nia Suardiaz and the US's Chris MacDonald.
Suardiaz and MacDonald have both taken two event wins from two—at the opener in Mondial du Vent, France, and the Tarifa Wing Pro, Spain—and look like they will be hard to beat in the Surf-Freestyle discipline.
Fuerteventura is the second call in the FreeFly-Slalom discipline from a slated three, with world champion Suardiaz leading the pack with a victory at the first stop in France. Men's world champion, Italy's Francesco Cappuzzo, also squeezed out the win at Mondial du Vent, but it was a close call.
New format
The historic Fuerteventura World Cup that is hosting the wingfoil Surf-Freestyle and FreeFly-Slalom events is staging its 36th edition this year and is hugely popular because of its good breezes, turquoise waters and a stadium-like setting. Fifty-nine athletes—42 men and 17 women—from 14 countries, are set to do battle.
A new format for the FreeFly-Slalom, first trialled at season opener in France, aims to make the closing stages more exciting for the spectators and viewers. The early elimination rounds serve as qualifiers for the final round, where any rider who makes it through could still win the event.
With 17-year-old Suardiaz so dominant in the women's fleet, it is difficult to see any of the others stealing a march on the Spanish athlete. But the French pair of Orane Ceris and Kylie Belloeuvre, along with the Netherlands' former world champion, Bowien van der Linden, are pushing hard to catch Suardiaz.
Leads the pack
Veteran waterman Cappuzzo showed all his experience at Mondial du Vent to take the FreeFly-Slalom win. The Italian was trailing well behind France's Oscar Leclair throughout the competition, but in the final put the hammer down and did enough get the win.
In Surf-Freestyle, Suardiaz is in a league of her own, pushing the boundaries with new tricks that keep her ahead of the pack.
MacDonald is also reaching new heights, too. But hard-charging teenagers like Axel Gerard (FRA) and Xavi Corr (ESP) are hard on the young American's heels and are also developing new and more extreme moves all the time.
Follow the action here