Keystone
Marco Odermatt’s series of twelve podium finishes is over. In the second descent from Val Gardena, the Swiss lands sixth next to the podium. Victory goes to Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
Aleksander Kilde gets his revenge on the second descent in Val Gardena. The Norwegian, who was only fifth on Thursday on a shortened course, wins from the original start ahead of 41-year-old Frenchman Johan Clarey (0.35 seconds back) and Italian Mattia Casse (0.42 seconds back), who is on the podium for the first time in the World Cup.
Marco Odermatt was once once more the best Swiss downhill skier. In seventh place, the man from Nidwalden, who had finished second two days earlier, lost almost a second to the now 17-time World Cup winner Kilde. At the same time, Odermatt did not finish in the top 3 for the first time in his eighth race of the season.
Second best Swiss was surprisingly Urs Kryenbühl. With start number 46, the Schwyz driver advanced to 14th place and achieved his best result in almost two years.
Downhill Olympic champion Beat Feuz was only 18th, one and a half seconds behind. Niels Hintermann, last year’s third on the Saslong with his first downhill podium, dropped out.
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Kryenbühl in intermediate 13th place
With starting number 46, Urs Kryenbühl is the last Swiss driver – and he can convince. Kryenbühl is 13th, 1.29 seconds behind. This makes him even faster than Feuz and Rösti and the second best Swiss today behind Odermatt.
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Remarkable success for Rösti
Lars Rösti sets an exclamation mark with starting number 38! The 24-year-old Swiss ranked 16th in the intermediate ranking, 1.7 seconds behind – just behind Beat Feuz.
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Chabloz loses 2 seconds on the best time
The next Swiss is Yannick Chabloz. The 23-year-old crosses the finish line in 24th place, almost 2 seconds behind. It’s going to be tight with World Cup points…
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Théaux narrowly missed the podium
And then the pedestal wobbles once more! The 38-year-old Frenchman Adrien Théaux with start number 32 shows a great ride on the Saslong and crosses the finish line in fourth place, 67 hundredths behind. The veteran is only 25 hundredths off the podium. Big as a sack!
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Kilde leads following 30 riders ahead of Clarey and Casse
Matthieu Bailet and Martin Cater were also expected to do a lot here, but the Frenchman and the Slovenian lose a lot of time and have nothing to do with the fight for the podium. After 30 riders, Kilde is still leading ahead of Clarey and Casse. Odermatt is the best Swiss in intermediate place 5.
Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (centre) leads ahead of Johan Clarey (left) and Mattia Casse (right). Screenshot SRF
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Sejersted now in the lead
Adrian Sejersted also makes people sit up and take notice – the Norwegian is even 30 hundredths ahead of compatriot Kilde at the fourth split. Below Sejersted loses some time but finally finishes eighth.
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Casse goes on the podium!
Wow! Who would have thought? After the disappointing results of his Italian teammates, Mattia Casse shows an outstanding drive and finishes with 42 hundredths. Place 3.
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Roulin clearly beaten
With Gilles Roulin comes the next Swiss. But he can’t convince today and loses more than three seconds to Kilde. That means intermediate rank 25.
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Goldberg with respectable success
And the next one, which shows that a lot is still possible here: The American Jared Goldberg is a little faster than Allegre and finishes sixth.
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Allegre at intermediate rank 6
Nils Allegre sets an exclamation mark once more. The Frenchman is actually still close to the podium and is only 1.18 seconds behind at the finish. Rank 6!
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Sander finished tenth
The German Andreas Sander finishes tenth. In the end, is it enough for a top 10 result? There are currently two Swiss in the top ten: Odermatt in fourth and Feuz in ninth.
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Striedinger convinced
After the German Dominik Schwaiger is at the bottom of the rankings, the Austrian Otmar Striedinger shows an appealing drive and finishes sixth. Together with Mayer he is the fastest Austrian today.
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Crawford ruined the podium for Odermatt
And then the series by Odermatt broke following all! The Canadian James Crawford shows a very strong race and is 69 hundredths behind in third place. He pushes Odermatt off the podium. For the first time this winter, Odermatt is not on the podium at a start.
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Rogentin on intermediate rank 9
The top favorites have all finished. And we ask ourselves: will badass Marco Odermatt actually end up on the podium in his eighth race of the season? Stefan Rogentin also showed a good drive, the Swiss crossed the finish line in ninth place.
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Odermatt finished third
It quickly becomes clear that Marco Odermatt cannot keep up with Kilde today. But Odermatt shows a very strong ride and can hope for the 13th podium in a row. He is 92 hundredths behind the finish line – that means he is as fast as Ganong and in third place in the intermediate ranking.
Great joy at the finish at Odermatt. Screenshot SRF
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Kilde with an amazing Ciaslat for the best time
Now comes the top favourite: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. And the Norwegian already shows above why he is the measure of all things in downhill. Kilde loses a bit of time in the middle section, is now 42 hundredths behind, but makes up a lot of ground below – especially in the Ciaslat – and takes the lead with a 35 hundredths lead.
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Beaten Cochran Siegle
While Odermatt slowly but surely makes his way to the start house, Cochran-Siegle dares to descend the legendary Saslong. However, the American loses a lot of time at the top and the gap continues to grow as the race progresses. In the end it is just under one and a half seconds that are missing from the best time.
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Hemetsberger has no chance
Daniel Hemetsberger is the next Austrian on the Saslong. But he doesn’t have a chance today either and is 1.57 seconds behind in intermediate 7th place.
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Mayer on intermediate rank 3
Even Matthias Mayer cannot become a danger to Clarey. The Austrian loses 89 hundredths to the best time.
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rear man falls
The next Swiss is Niels Hintermann – and the Ciaslat will be his undoing. Hintermann slips away and falls. Luckily he is unharmed. As a result, it is another disappointment for the Zurich player.
Hintermann in the snow. Screenshot SRF
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Kriechmayr not up to par today
Kriechmayr, the winner of the first Gröden descent on Thursday, is baking smaller rolls today. In the end, he was a whole 1.6 seconds behind Clarey. That means intermediate rank 6.
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Clarey takes the lead
Now Ganong’s best time has been cracked. Johan Clarey is the fastest from top to bottom, finishing with a lead of 57 hundredths. Strong drive from the French!
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Not the race of Feuz
Beat Feuz is anything but flawless today and will have nothing to do with victory. Thanks to a strong last part of the course, he can at least keep the damage within limits, 61 hundredths behind he ends up in intermediate 3rd place.
Disappointed Feuz at the finish. Screenshot SRF
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Paris clearly beaten
Beat Feuz will soon be the first Swiss. In front of him, however, is another Italian at the start, Dominik Paris. This is still the fastest at the first intermediate time, but then makes too many mistakes and in the end loses more than a second to the best time. Intermediate 6th
Great frustration in Paris at the finish. Screenshot SRF
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Birthday boy Innerhofer clearly behind
The second Italian, Christof Innerhofer, does not create an exploit today – on his 38th birthday. He can still make up a bit of ground below, but has no chance of setting the best time. Innerhofer can still celebrate today.
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Marsaglia with a big deficit
The first local hero starts with Matteo Marsaglia. It’s not the Italian’s race, who loses more than a second to Ganong and ends up last.
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Baumann clearly beaten
The first German to finish is Romed Baumann. He can’t get close to Ganong and loses six tenths to the leader.
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Local ski fans are having fun
Screenshot SRF
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Ganong much faster than his compatriot
Travis Ganong clearly takes the lead. The American is almost a second faster than his teammate Bennett.
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Bennett opens the race
The American Bryce Bennett opens the race. After a somewhat restless ride including a moment of shock, the first target time is 2:04.11
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Our Swiss trumps at the start
The Swiss in the starting list
- 7 Beat Feuz
- 10 Niels Hintermann
- 15 Marco Odermatt
- 16 Stefan Rogentin
- 26 Gilles Roulin
- 34 Yannick Chabloz
- 38 Lars Rösti
- 41 Alexis Monney
- 46 Urs Kryenbühl
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The favorites to win
In addition to Marco Odermatt, who finished on the podium at every start this winter, and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who was able to win two of the three previous downhill runs, Vincent Kriechmayr is also one of the favorites to win following his triumph on Thursday. The bookmakers also have his compatriot Matthias Mayer on the bill. And of course Olympic champion Beat Feuz should not be missing from the list of favourites.
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Hallo …
… and welcome to the live ticker of the second descent in Val Gardena. After the shortened route on Thursday, Odermatt and Co. should now conquer the Saslong from the very top. Here you are there live.
