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Swiss Marco Odermatt wins his second race at the World Cup. Behind them the American Tommy Ford and the Croatian Filip Zubcic. For the Austrians it was not enough to place in the top 15.
Marco Odermatt has put an end to the drought for Swiss giant slalom riders. The Swiss won Santa Caterina’s second RTL, which moved from Sunday to Monday, ahead of American Tommy Ford (+0.73 seconds) and Saturday’s winner Filip Zubcic of Croatia (+0.75). For the Swiss it was the first success in this discipline since Carlo Janko in March 2011 at Kranjska Gora. The Austrians disappointed again, Roland Leitinger was 17th.
In this way, Odermatt also took the lead in the general of the World Cup, ex aequo with the French Alexis Pinturault (fifth of the day). “It was not easy today, the first time the leader after the first round, I am very proud,” said Odermatt, 23, in an interview with ORF TV. He already had five podiums in the giant slalom, his second overall World Cup victory after the Super-G at Beaver Creek in December 2019. For a long time, Zubcic allowed himself to contemplate a renewed triumph, which managed to jump from 21 to 3 with the best weather in difficult slope conditions after rain and fresh snow.
“Now step on the gas”
Leitinger knew of course that overall things were not looking good for the ÖSV giant slalom team, but after losing in Sölden and finishing 26th on Saturday, he noticed an upward trend for him. “The general situation is such that I was really on the ground after the first race, so you have to see that as progress. It was a close game in front of me and in tenth it is only four tenths, so it means more.” Hit the gas, “said the 2017 World Cup runner-up.
“The beginning of the season was bumpy, so it’s a small step,” he said, drawing a bit of self-confidence. The team has been patient since last year. “It won’t be long. Sometimes there are small things and certain things just make others better.” Three races have been beaten in the troubled discipline this season. In Sölden, Stefan Brennsteiner was the best Austrian as 17, on Saturday in Santa Caterina Marco Schwarz was 14.
For the first time since March 2019 and thus more than a year and a half, Magnus Walch landed again in the points. The 28-year-old went from 26th to 21st in the final. “The relief is huge, the joy even more. I am really happy,” said the Vorarlberg resident, who currently does not have ÖSV squad status. Marco Schwarz had to be content with 22nd place 1/100 of a second behind, so the expected increase was not successful. It was due to a near knockdown in the second round. “I attacked, that’s brutally annoying,” the Carinthian knew.
Feller eliminated in the first round
Manuel Feller (33rd) missed the second round, leaving him scoreless in his comeback races. The Tyrolean was out on Saturday. In the end, Vincent Kriechmayr (45th), Stefan Brennsteiner (46th), Adrian Pertl (59th) and Raphael Haaser (62nd) were also just training units. In the overall World Cup, Adrian Pertl is the 19th best Austrian after four races, but the sprint season is just beginning.
ÖSV Racing Director Andreas Puelacher said at ORF that nothing needs to be overlooked, that is the current reality for most of them. In the case of black, he pointed out that he had made mistakes that he could not afford at this level. “In the season it is very difficult to change something, it goes race after race. We can only train and continue our way and hope to be able to confidently reach the goal of finishing in the top ten.” The pressure is increasing, athletes will try everything, but mistakes must be eliminated.
For skiers, it is now in Val d’Isere, where the first downhill training is scheduled for Thursday. Originally the two giant slalom races on Saturday and Monday should have taken place in France as well, but due to lack of snow they had been moved to Santa Caterina. Meanwhile, enough snow has fallen in Val d’Isere. There should be a lot more this week that could pose problems for the organizers.
(WHAT)
