[ad_1]
SKirennläufer Linus Straßer has chosen an unfavorable moment for a small crisis of form. Almost two weeks before the start of the World Championship in Cortina d “Ampezzo, the Munich man did not finish in the second consecutive slalom. Nine days after his failure in the first World Cup race in Flachau, the 27-year-old failed in the final of the legendary “Night Race” at the Planai in Schladming.
“It is not a crisis, you have to be calm now,” said Straßer, who won in Zagreb at the beginning of the month and took second place in Adelboden, at Bayerischer Rundfunk, adding: “It doesn’t always go up, sometimes there can be difficult phases ”. Now he is looking forward to next weekend’s two slalom in Chamonix / France, the last one before the World Cup (February 8-21). After that, it is important to “prepare for the World Cup in peace”.
Prolonged pause for tendonitis
Austrian Marco Schwarz was the first to win a second slalom this winter as snow continued to fall on the Planai, where there are usually around 50,000 spectators. The second and third place went to the French Clement Noel (+0.68 seconds) and Alexis Pinturault (+0.82).
After the first failed race, after which he had just reached the final in 27th place, Straßer had not wanted to make excuses, but had asked for understanding. “I’ve been a bit out of breath in the last two races,” he said.
One reason for the weak phase: Straßer had to take a three-month hiatus due to a swollen quadriceps tendon and was only able to start training in mid-November. As a result, he lacked valuable time testing the right material for all conditions.
ARD expert Felix Neureuther also acknowledged that his former roommate is currently not in the best of shape. “Linus has not found the perfect montage,” he analyzed, and he also lacks “liveliness and lightness.”
Before Straßer retired for the second time in a row for the first time since the Kitzbühel and Schladming races in January 2019, the other German riders had to pack: Sebastian Holzmann (33rd) and David Ketterer (41st) missed the final , Julian Rauchfuß and Anton Tremmel retired in the first race.
