Last week, we saw a few of the podium contenders for Milano at Grand Prix de France, and this week, we’ve got another one. Madison Chock/Evan Bates have won each of the three World Championship titles since Beijing, and they are looking to finally take that step onto the individual Olympic podium this season. Also in this dance event, there will be intriguing matchups between American teams and French teams, all of which sets up battles later on this season at their respective national championships.
2025 Cup of China predictions
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GOLD Madison Chock/Evan Bates USA - The second-to-last of the big teams to debut this season, the three-time World champions will not only be looking to win this competition, but they will also be keen on how their scores stack up. For them, likely anything that’s not at least in the mid-210s will be subpar, and for them to stay ahead of the pack in the pecking order of things, something in the 220s would be much more comfortable—but it’s early in the season. Clean skating is important, and you better believe they are ready to tackle this Olympic season.
SILVER Olivia Smart/Tim Dieck ESP - With a win at Nepela Memorial and a successful debut of their Dune sequel free dance, Smart/Dieck look to take their sixth-place finish at Worlds and run with it this season in hopes of continuing their ascent internationally. They look to be the solid favorites for silver here, but will have to look over their shoulders with four strong teams right there behind them.
BRONZE Caroline Green/Michael Parsons USA - How will they fare in the rhythm dance this week versus how they were scored at Nepela Memorial a month ago? That will be the determining factor for their chances at the podium here. Green/Parsons have historically been a stronger free dance team, and so any improvements on their rhythm dance standings will help.
4. Emilea Zingas/Vadym Kolesnik USA - With Kolesnik’s citizenship in hand, these two come in looking to put up a battle with Green/Parsons. They had a very successful start to their season with silver at Kinoshita Group Cup and a 190+ score, but we saw perhaps that some of the scores at that event have been inconsistent with other competitions. So will this be a recalibration or can they continue their momentum from that event?
5. Evgeniia Lopareva/Geoffrey Brissaud FRA - It’s a rematch among them, Green/Parsons, and Demougeot/le Mercier from Nepela Memorial. And though their material this season is not quite as strong as what they delivered last year, their scores this season have drastically dropped so far compared to last year. They made the Final last season, and are in jeopardy of not even making the podium here.
6. Loicia Demougeot/Theo le Mercier FRA - Things have gotten a lot closer between them and Lopareva/Brissaud this season, and at Nepela Memorial, they were beaten by 0.35. They also come in with a bronze medal from Trialeti Trophy three weeks ago.
7. Hannah Lim/Ye Quan KOR - On their way to a first Olympic appearance, Lim/Quan started this season with a fourth-place finish at Kinoshita Group Cup. This will be their fifth career Grand Prix appearance.
8. Shiyue Wang/Xinyu Liu CHN - Their fourth-place finish at the Olympic Qualifying Event earned China an ice dance spot in Milano, and this will be their chance to further solidify themselves as the top Chinese dance team and the ones who will grab that spot this year.
9. Zixi Xiao/Linghao He CHN - The Chinese silver medalists were tenth here last season, and will be looking to improve on that this year.
10. Junfei Ren/Jianing Xing CHN - Ninth here last season, Ren/Xing made their Worlds debut last year and finished 31st in the rhythm dance.