In the overall World Cup, Odermatt now has 1,702 points and can no longer be caught because Feller, the new runner-up, is 1,001 points behind with ten races to go. Odermatt celebrated his 35th World Cup victory, the 21st in his flagship discipline and his tenth in a row on RTL. In the same place in the US state of California, Odermatt last failed to win a giant slalom a year ago and has now been unbeaten for almost exactly a year – back then, the currently injured Marco Schwarz won.
Lukas Feurstein collected RTL points for the first time with starting number 56, the Vorarlberger came tenth. Stefan Brennsteiner, on the other hand, couldn’t cope with the conditions at all and was eliminated in the second round after finishing 21st. The loss was even more bitter for Joshua Sturm, who was sensationally in 15th place at halftime.
AP/Robert F. Bukaty Odermatt secured the overall World Cup early with his tenth RTL victory in a row
Patrick Feurstein (32nd/3.15), Dominik Raschner (43rd/3.87) and Kilian Pramstaller (56th/6.00) did not qualify for the second round. A slalom will take place on Sunday in Palisades Tahoe, where the Olympic ski competitions were held in 1960. ORF1 will broadcast the first round live from 6.45 p.m., the decision for the day’s victory will then take place at 10 p.m. (all CET).
“Today doesn’t feel like an overall victory”
Odermatt was happy about his triumph on ORF, but didn’t celebrate too much. “Extremely cool, I’m over the moon that it worked for the third time. Even if it doesn’t feel like an overall victory today. I think I worked that out at the start of the season. It’s a shame, of course, because of the many injuries that made the duel a little more decisive. But you have to do it first. The goal is to see this through to the end. I want to win every race, that’s the goal. Today it was extremely close at twelve hundredths,” said Odermatt, who was requested by Kristoffersen.
The Norwegian, who presented himself strongly after a setup change, was satisfied: “When you fight against Marco, you have to take risks. Maybe I was too tight on the last long train. Then the speed was a bit off recently. But I really struggled. It worked great. Twelve hundredths isn’t that much, you can build on that.”
Feller then took off his proverbial hat to the Swiss: “It’s crazy what the dog is doing. Incredible.” The big ball for the Swiss was not unexpected, and the fact that he fixed it in this race “was not unexpected. And that gives us something to think about again. But I’m happy with my second round.” Feller doesn’t feel completely comfortable in the giant slalom. Especially in snow like Palisades Tahoe. Added to this are the strains of travel. “From that point of view, it was a race that I would be happy to take part in.”
Best RTL result for Haaser
Haaser, who took ninth place in Alta Badia 14 months ago, said of the best RTL result of his career: “In the second round there was quite a bit of trouble that could have gone wrong. With that in mind, I can be very, very happy with the result. It’s always nice when you’re the best Austrian, but it would be nicer if you were a little further ahead.”
Feurstein was happy about his first points in the RTL World Cup: “It’s a great feeling, that’s what I’ve worked for. It took a while because of injuries, but I want more of this feeling.”
Haaser takes seventh place
The Tyrolean achieved his best RTL position in his career.
The men’s Alpine World Cup in California is trying its luck in the USA for the second time this winter. On the first trip at the beginning of December, all three races – two downhills and a super-G – were canceled due to weather. Now it’s the turn of the technicians. There is also a slalom scheduled for this weekend, followed by two giant slaloms and a slalom a week later in Aspen.
