December 21, 2004 – One month into the World Cup season, Rossignol athletes, with a full package (skis, boots and bindings), wasted little time showing their dominance in all Nordic disciplines.

On the men’s cross-country circuit, it was no surprise that a Rossignol
athlete won the opening distance event for the third straight year.
Vincent Vittoz of France was victorious in the 15k freestyle event in
Kuusamo, Finland and sits in second place overall after eight races. Showing
his talent at both classic and skate techniques, his most recent victory
was in the mass start 30k skate race in Ramsau. In near blizzard
conditions, Vittoz noted that a new Rossignol skate ski model was a key
factor in his victory. Cross-country sprint specialist Tor Arne Hetland
has been tearing up the snow in the sprint races and sits in 3rd place in
the overall standings.

Gabriella Paruzzi, last year’s women’s World Cup champion has had two
podium finishes in the first 8 races and is in 10th place overall. Two
newcomers to Rossignol from the Finnish team, Virpi Kuitunen and Aino Kaisa
Saarinen have skied strong and consistently and are in seventh and eighth overall in the standings. Kuitunen has had solid podium performances in both sprint and distance classic events.

On the biathlon front, Rossignol athletes top the overall standings in both
the men’s and women’s fields. Rossignol skier, Olga Pyleva, newcomer to
Rossignol, holds a slight lead with three podium finishes in the first 8
races on the women’s side. After a slow start to the season, last years
overall women’s winner, Liv Grete Poiree has been improving her
performances with every race, winning the 12.5k mass start race last
weekend in Oestersund.

Last year’s World Cup winner, Rossignol skier Raphael Poiree, has a
commanding lead in the overall men’s biathlon standings after 8 races. He
has been on the podium in 5 of 8 races, and with his wife Liv Grete, have
both skied to victory in the last World Cup race in Sweden. Jay Hakkinen,
a homegrown US Rossignol skier, has had some solid performances including a
7th place finish and is 22nd in the overall standings.

Two Rossignol athletes, Ronny Ackermann and Todd Lodwick of the USA are
currently in 1st and 3rd overall in Nordic combined after four events.
Ackermann has dominated the field, winning 3 of the first 4 races while
Lodwick has had consistent podium finishes in this event.

Rossignol skier Gian Antonio Zanetel carried his World Loppet dominance
from the 2003-04 season into the new year with a victory in the first race
of the season in Sgambeda, Italy.

On the home front, most of the action has been in the west. Team Rossignol
athletes have shown their depth in all disciplines on the Super Tour.
James Southam, newcomer to the Rossignol stable was a pleasant surprise,
pulling off a career best performance with a victory in the 10k classic at
Soldier Hollow. Sprint specialists Kevin Hochtl and Collin Mahood went
after the 100m-sprint world record in Soldier Hollow, ending up 2nd and 3rd
respectively.

On the women’s side, another rookie racer to Team Rossignol, Karin
Camenisch, sits in second place overall in the Super Series with strong
performances in both disciplines and in sprint and distance events. Brooke
Baughman, with improving performances in each race, finished a strong 4th
in the 10k freestyle event and teamed with Camenisch in the exciting team
sprint event to capture the silver medal.