Somewhat surprisingly, technology specialist Feller came third in the overall World Cup with 952 points behind the outstanding Swiss Marco Odermatt (1,947) and his compatriot Loic Meillard (1,073). The Tyrolean won four races.
With Marco Schwarz, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and Alexis Pinturault, too many top contenders dropped out due to injuries during the season. As the second best Austrian, the two-time season winner Vincent Kriechmayr came in sixth.
Alpine skiing: Men’s World Cup record
The men’s alpine ski season ended on Sunday just as it began. The weather made it impossible for the men to ski in Saalbach. It was a season full of highlights, but also full of discussions. About cancellations, falls and unfortunately also injuries.
Kriechmayr best speed driver
There were also ÖSV podium finishes in the season rankings in the Super-G for Kriechmayr (victories in Val Gardena and Kvitfjell) in second place and Raphael Haaser in third place; in the downhill Kriechmayr missed the podium in fourth place. For the first time since the 2015/2016 season, the ÖSV speed riders remained without a World Cup success. Second place in Kvitjell by Kriechmayr was the only podium place in the downhill. Last season, the Upper Austrian won four downhill races.
GEPA/Harald Steiner With only one podium place in the downhill, Vincent Kriechmayr fell short of high expectations
In the giant slalom World Cup, Feller was the best in ninth place, Schwarz finished in twelfth place despite the early end of the season, Stefan Brennsteiner in 14th. There was also a big gap behind Feller in the slalom, Fabio Gstrein finished in twelfth place, Johannes Strolz in 13th place. Changes in the coaching sector could still take place in the technical area, said head coach Marko Pfeifer.
Nothing to complain about in the Super-G
There is little to criticize in the Super-G. “In contrast to the downhill race, we presented ourselves very, very strongly. With two on the podium in the discipline rankings, there is no need to hide. I think the homework was done very, very well,” said Pfeifer.
Alpine skiing Herren
Results and ratings
When it comes to the downhill, according to Pfeifer, each athlete has to be analyzed individually. The fast speed days for the top World Cup athletes would probably have been missed because the weather didn’t cooperate during the preparation.
New options in summer training
They want to react to this in summer training and offer options. The athletes should be sent overseas for snow training in stages and divided into different locations. In the event of bad weather, the entire group would not be affected and the runners would have the opportunity to change the training area.
It is also likely that overall European Cup winner Manuel Traninger, European Cup downhill third Stefan Rieser and Vincent Wieser will be integrated into Werner Franz’s training group.
23 athletes in World Cup ranks
Across all four disciplines, Austria brought 23 athletes into the overall ranking over the course of the winter, meaning that they were in the top 30 in a race at least once. That was exactly as many as in the 2022/23 season. At the European Cup level, Austria is the overall winner again for the first time since 2021 with Traninger. As in the World Cup, the situation in giant slalom is precarious.
