2024-01-27 05:05:00
After the rhinestones and glitter of Kitzbühel, where his exceptional double on the Streif made him change dimension, Cyprien Sarrazin finds the calm of a Bavarian resort, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, and another historic track of the white circus, the Kandahar .
The stars gathered in the Kitzbühel arrival area by the dozen, like local regular Arnold Schwarzenegger, have left but the Alpine Ski World Cup does not mark a break for Cyprien Sarrazin.
He has barely had time to take six days to recharge his batteries a little, when a new duel with the Swiss Marco Odermatt awaits him. Far from the hustle and bustle of Kitzbühel, which allowed Sarrazin to reveal himself on the most prestigious track of the winter.
Two descents on the Streif, two victories and above all a masterpiece on Saturday, a day of high mass in Austria where the race was watched by three out of four viewers behind their screen (1.36 million).
With this double in the space of 24 hours, Sarrazin entered the pantheon of alpine skiing, alongside big names like his compatriot Luc Alphand (1995), or the Austrian Karl Schranz (1972).
Without a race in the middle of the week, unlike Odermatt, he was able to celebrate his feat with the Swiss on Saturday evening, seen arm in arm, bare torso and drink in hand behind the counter of the bar where the winner of the downhill traditionally pays for his tour.
Duel that fascinates
Relegated to almost a minute, Odermatt consoled himself on Tuesday in a nighttime giant slalom in Schladming, at the cost of a climb from 11th to 1st place between the first and second rounds, and will want to take his revenge on Sarrazin in his favorite speed discipline, super-G.
In Wengen on the Lauberhorn in mid-January, Sarrazin came to venture onto the favorite playground of Odermatt, who has not left the super-G podium in the World Cup for 12 races and the finals at Courchevel/Méribel in March 2022 (seven victories).
This duel between Sarrazin and Odermatt finds itself at the center of attention for the second part of the alpine ski season, while the fight for the general classification has lost its interest, a new big crystal globe being promised to Odermatt following the end premature season due to injury to Austrian Marco Schwarz.
In France, the broadcaster Eurosport is in any case rubbing its hands. On Saturday, the channel recorded “its best audience for alpine skiing since 2015”, with 164,000 viewers on Eurosport 2, and a peak at 350,000 viewers for the passage of Sarrazin.
In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the south of Germany, conditions completely different from Wengen or Kitzbühel await skiers. Because following the cold and the icy slopes, a clear warm spell has set in in the Bavarian resort (around 8 degrees), where the start will be given at an altitude of 1,300 meters, arriving at a little less than 800 m.
“We adapt to the outside elements, to the snow. We trained this morning in giants on salty snow, in good conditions, even if completely different from Kitzbühel. There is no training, we do the super-G straight away, it’s part of the job,” explained Sarrazin late Friday followingnoon.
Back to 6 points behind Odermatt in the Downhill World Cup rankings, Sarrazin is 90 points behind the Swiss in super-G, with four races still on the program (each worth 100 points), including the two in Bavaria.
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