Feller and Brennsteiner were hardly able to train for giant slalom during the Christmas break. The Tyrolean, who is repeatedly plagued by back problems, decided not to do it to protect himself and in favor of the slalom. Brennsteiner slowed down an ankle injury he suffered in Alta Badia. “I’m fit again now and no longer have any pain. It’s perfect for Saturday. But I wasn’t able to train much. The expectations are not that high due to the low training load,” said Brennsteiner.
Feller also feels prepared. “The most important thing is that I am in top shape. I feel more ready than for any other giant slalom this season, but of course a few days of training would have been nice.” In the slalom he wants to attack the podium in one of his favorite races, in the giant slalom he wants to reach the top ten.
Odermatt as favorite for Adelboden
For the men, the RTL classic from Adelboden is on the program on Saturday. Marco Odermatt is considered the big hunted man. The Swiss local hero won in 2023 and 2022.
Odermatt is the measure of all things RTL
In the giant slalom, defending overall World Cup champion Odermatt crushes the competition with impressive consistency. He won 13 of the 16 races that the Swiss competed in this discipline. This season he has won all three World Cup giant slaloms so far. The last time the 26-year-old was outside the top three was on March 20, 2021, when he couldn’t get past eleventh place in Lenzerheide.
In 2024, Odermatt is aiming for his third triumph in a row in Adelboden – although the pressure is no longer as great as it was before his first victory two years ago. “The relief down there at the finish was brilliant,” he said. He “more or less doesn’t care” about the hat trick. “But logically, every time you are in Abelboden you want to win. Of course this year too. I’m motivated,” said Odermatt. Most recently, Hermann Maier achieved his third Adelboden success in a row in 2001. The Salzburger had also won in 1998 and 1999, but the race was canceled in 2000.
GEPA/Harald Steiner In the giant slalom and in front of a home crowd, Marco Odermatt is the big hunted
Easy game without Black?
At the races in Bormio, Odermatt recently took home the red jerseys for leading the World Cup in the downhill and super-G disciplines. And he should now have an easy time in the overall World Cup after Schwarz’s season ended. Before his injury, the hopeful from Carinthia was Odermatt’s most consistent giant slalom competitor and the strongest Austrian technician. Thanks to places two, four and two, Black holds second place in the giant slalom rankings and leads the race for the slalom ball.
Alpine skiing Herren
Results and ratings
Now it’s up to Feller and Brennsteiner to really get going in this RTL season after a mixed start. Feller’s best result was eleventh place in Val d’Isere, and in Alta Badia he had two botched days. Brennsteiner was at least eighth in the first Alta Badia race – but that was his only result so far. On the second day in Alta Badia, Patrick Feurstein was the second best Austrian in 18th place.
Attack also in the slalom
In the slalom, however, there have only been ÖSV victories in two races this winter. In Gurgl, Feller won the slalom opener, Schwarz secured the night slalom classic in Madonna di Campiglio before Christmas. Gurgl third place Michael Matt as well as Fabio Gstrein, Johannes Strolz, Adrian Pertl and Dominik Raschner are also fighting for top places in the slalom in Adelboden on Sunday (10.30 a.m. and 1.30 p.m., live on ORF1).
What you definitely need in the Bernese Oberland is a little luck with the weather. After exceptionally warm weather with temperatures of up to 14 degrees, fresh snow is expected for Saturday and Sunday. There will probably be fog. This could further impact the giant slalom on Saturday; moving the start further down is an option.
In order to clear the slopes of new snow, over 200 volunteers are on duty on race days, and they will probably have to work night shifts. “The organizers are facing major challenges,” emphasized ÖSV head coach Marko Pfeifer and reported that the slope was too wet in the final part on Friday. This is one of the reasons why we hope for a cold night.
