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Rarely has the Swiss Ski Men boss Tom Stauffer been as acidified as he was on Saturday after the first giant slalom in Bansko. “I’m not entirely satisfied, we can do much more,” complained the Bernese after his specialist giants missed the podium in a World Cup race for the first time this winter.
Stauffer’s clear direction at the team meeting obviously had an impact. With Marco Odermatt (2nd), Loïc Meillard (7th), Justin Murisier (8th), Daniele Sette (11th) and Gino Caviezel (12th), five ski partners are in the top 12 on Sunday.
A Swiss giant slalom team last showed such unity on March 10, 2001 in the World Cup final in Are (4th Von Grünigen, 9th Kälin and Défago simultaneous, 11th Accola and 12th Locher).
Odermatt puts Pinturault under pressure
Of course, the collective result is overshadowed by Marco Odermatt’s performance. In the eighth giant slalom of the season, he took the podium for the fourth time. The 23-year-old has to admit defeat to French world champion Mathieu Faivre, but he ranks second immediately ahead of Faivre’s teammate Alexis Pinturault.
And with that, the six-time junior world champion puts the 29-year-old veteran under enormous pressure in two overall ratings. In the battle for the giant little slalom ball, the Buochser is just 25 points behind Pinturault before the last two races. And in the duel for the big ball to win the World Cup, Alexis’ advantage over “Odi” is only 210 points.
Downhill to tip the scale?
Nine decisions are still pending. This week at Saalbach there are two races and a Super-G on the program. Odermatt could add more points to the French, especially on the downhill sections. While Pinturault has yet to score a single World Cup point in the king’s discipline, Odermatt impressed in recent races at Cortina, Garmisch and Kitzbühel with ranks 4, 8 and 10.
“I think Odermatt can win both big and small balls. He has nothing to lose, while the big favorite Pinturault is now really restless and consequently nervous, ”believes German ski legend Frank Wörndl (61, 1987 slalom world champion), who is now a commentator for“ Eurosport ” .
