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“I would have hoped it was a bit more positive. In competition you have to be on point, you can’t afford to make any mistakes, it doesn’t quite work that way, ”said Widhölzl on Friday after the New Year’s event on the Olympic hill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Aschenwald had pulled the embers from the fire in sixth place. because Daniel Huber, as the second best Austrian, was only 14th. Stefan Kraft, still the best Austrian in Oberstdorf, said goodbye to the top peloton of the circuit evaluation with a second unsuccessful jump.
The man from Salzburg had kept up with the best in qualifying for the New Years competition. Widhölzl took several and several liability for lack of carelessness and expects an increase on the first hill of the tour in Innsbruck, where qualifying at the Bergisel (1.30pm live on ORF 1) is scheduled on Saturday.
“I hope they stabilize a bit, that these training jumps or test race, where they go with more freedom and ease, that they can also take them with them to the competition,” said Widhölzl. His team will definitely learn from mistakes and will not be affected by the previous performance, said the Tyrolean, who is on his first tour as the head coach of the ÖSV jumpers.
Fresno new hope
As a positive outlier, Widhölzl highlighted Aschenwald’s little surprise. The Tyrolean, who is already in Oberstdorf as the eighth second best athlete in the ÖSV, did a good job, according to the head coach. “He made two good jumps, still not at the level he can, but it must be said that the ones in front are very good. You can’t afford to make mistakes, ”Widhölzl said.
Aschenwald was satisfied with his two consistent jumps at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, but was still upset about the lost podium. The Tyrolean was just 2.7 points behind third-placed Poland, Piotr Zyla. “It’s not much, maybe luck in Austria is on our side then,” said the 25-year-old confidently looking to the future.
In the general classification of the tour, however, the gap with the podium places is already significantly greater. Aschenwald is 17 points behind Kamil Stoch, third. Among the best Austrians and Poles, Garmisch winner Dawid Kubacki and German Markus Eisenbichler are also in the overall ranking.
A bad jump returns strength
Widhölzl, however, had to painfully accept the relapse of strength. The defending World Cup champion, who was only 28th in the New Years competition, simply wanted too much in the first round of the final after his slightly skinned Telemark, according to the head coach. That went wrong, the 2015 overall winner, who was disabled from back problems and a coronavirus infection in the preliminary field of the tour, no longer plays a role in the overall ranking as 14th with more than 55 points behind.
“Unfortunately that was a bad jump. I can’t say why it failed, unfortunately it didn’t work. All the other jumps were good, I don’t know where it’s coming from now, that really pissed me off, “said Kraft, lamenting the recent crash at Garmisch, where the 2015 tour winner had been in serious trouble for the past three years. Kraft had missed qualifying for the second round twice, having to settle for 13th last year.
In Innsbruck, Aschenwald, Kraft and company receive reinforcements from their own warehouse. Six additional jumpers can also try their luck at the Bergisel as part of the so-called national group. In addition to former outright winner and World Cup record holder Gregor Schlierenzauer, the lineup also includes Manuel Fettner, Timon-Pascal Kahofer, Clemens Leitner, Stefan Rainer, and Maximilian Steiner.
