(Val Gardena) On a shortened descent, the Austrian world champion Vincent Kriechmayr tamed the Swiss Marco Odermatt, still not out of the podium this season, Thursday in Val Gardena (Italy).
After a very tight race, Kriechmayr beat the Swiss world No.1 by 11 hundredths of a second and another Austrian, Matthias Mayer, by 13 hundredths.
The Swiss cador Marco Odermatt is still very close to a first downhill victory on the world circuit. For the fifth time in his career, another skier has overtaken him in this all-risk discipline which sublimates his touch of snow and his unique balance.
To console himself, the Nidwalden continues his crazy series with a seventh podium in seven races this winter (three wins, three second places, one third place), the twelfth consecutive straddling two seasons.
Winner of the big crystal globe in the spring, Odermatt (25) seems untouchable for the general classification, which he dominates 175 points ahead of the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, only 5e Thursday.
“I’m very happy with my race, I didn’t know what to expect, it shows that I’m in great shape at the moment,” he commented at Eurosport.
While he potentially faces five races in five days (three in Val Gardena, two in Alta Badia), an insane program, Odermatt should not compete in the second downhill scheduled for Saturday after Friday’s super-G. “But I still have to think about it,” he said.
Thursday’s shortened race, a replay after a cancellation in Beaver Creek, Colorado, two weeks ago, offered rare suspense and minimal gaps beyond just the podium. The top ten are held in half a second, the top 30 in 1 second 01.
The French veteran Johan Clarey, Olympic vice-champion, notably took the 4e place 23 hundredths from the winner.