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The men’s sprint races at Saalbach-Hinterglemm did not make any decisions in the ball fight. In the World Cup final on March 17 in Lenzerheide, Austria will face Switzerland twice: Vincent Kriechmayr starts the Super-G 83 points ahead of Marco Odermatt, Matthias Mayer has to catch Beat Freuz 68. He Big loser at the 2025 World Cup was Alexis Pinturault, whose record over Odermatt in the World Cup overall fell to 81 points.
Downhill winner Kriechmayr was not satisfied on Sunday in the highly technical Super-G, with third place behind Odermatt and Frenchman Matthieu Bailet. There were also congratulations from ÖSV President Peter Schröcksnadel, who also commented: “Maybe he didn’t get the most out of himself today.” But the head of the association does not believe that the world champion from Upper Austria will allow the crystal to be snatched from him in the last race.
Racing director Andreas Puelacher was delighted in the Super-G with third place for Kriechmayr, four for Raphael Haaser, seven for Matthias Mayer, ten for Daniel Hemetsberger and eleven for Daniel Danklmaier over “a compact speed team”. In the men’s national ranking, the deficit of the ÖSV team vis-à-vis Switzerland was reduced to just 64 points.
But Puelacher was not completely satisfied with what was shown on the snow crystal route on the Zwölferkogel. “Some of them performed well, others I didn’t like. When you have a team like that, you have to demand it. In general, I’m happy, but today there would have been more.” There was no answer to the question of who, in particular, would have expected more from.
“We knew Odermatt is very strong. Our attractions, Vinc ‘and mine, were not entirely optimal,” Mayer knew. “You can see in the Super-G that anything is possible, everyone has to accelerate, everything has to fit together.” You have now planned two days of giant slalom training. It is not yet clear whether he will be in the penultimate season of the World Cup in Kranjska Gora. In Kriechmayr, “relaxation, a few days of snow and a good preparation for Lenzerheide are the order of the day”.
In addition to Kriechmayr and Mayer, Max Franz was the third ÖSV driver to qualify for both sprints in the final. Otmar Striedinger and Hemetsberger managed to do this on the descent, and Christian Walder in the super-G. Danklmaier missed the top 25 on the descent in 26th place, but missed much more in the Super-G as 33rd. After a difficult winter at the beginning, the Styrian took 14th and 11th places at Saalbach as the best performances of the season as motivation for the upcoming season.
The surprising fourth Haaser still has a lot to do this year, for him now it’s the European Cup finals in Saalbach (Super-G, Downhill) and Reiteralm (giant slalom). In the general classification he is 59 points behind his teammate Maximilian Lahnsteiner, second, in the Super-G the first three are possible, so it is still about fixed starting positions in the World Cup for next winter . “Today everything went well from start to finish, it’s good to see that you’re not really that far away anyway,” Haaser said after his first top World Cup result.
Pinturault, a World Cup bronze medalist, failed Sunday in the Super-G, which was actually tailor-made for him and set by his own coach, finishing 15th. World Cup overall. Every point you can catch up top is important, “Odermatt explained. “I look forward to a great fight until the end.” Pinturault will certainly give him that, he has been working for the big ball for so long, last time he was second twice. The Frenchman has the advantage of having two more slaloms than Odermatt, who will definitely skip slalom racing.
