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Stefan Luitz at the season opener in Sölden
Photo:
Marco Trovati / AP
The German ski racers missed the top ten places at the World Cup opener in Sölden.
Stefan Luitz drove in the victory of the Swiss Marco Odermatt in the giant slalom on the Rettenbachferner, 1.35 seconds behind, in 17th place.
Alexander Schmid (+1.53), who was seventh after the first run, finished 19th. The third German starter, Julian Rauchfuß, was eliminated in the first run.
The Austrian Roland Leitinger (+0.07) in second and Zan Kranjec from Slovenia (+0.10) completed the podium.
“The basic speed is there.
Up and down, I'm with the music, ”said Luitz of the first race after changing materials.
In the middle section of the route, on the notorious steep slope with a gradient of up to 68 percent, the 29-year-old had problems.
"I have to make sure that I'm the boss and not ski with me," he said.
"It won't be my favorite slope anymore."
Overall World Cup winner Pinturault only fifth
For Schmid, given his difficult preparation, things went surprisingly well in the first round.
The 27-year-old struggled with a tendon irritation in his left knee for a long time over the summer and hardly trained in the snow.
In the second run, in increasingly difficult lighting conditions, he was no longer able to cope so well and slipped far out of the top ten.
"Getting the package within two or three swings and then being handed it through at the finish is very bitter," he said.
All in all, he was "very satisfied" with the day.
Alexis Pinturault, the French overall World Cup winner and best giant slalom runner of the previous season, finished fifth in front of over 9,000 spectators.
His compatriot Mathieu Faivre, who won gold in the giant slalom World Cup in February, fell back to eleventh place in the second run.
In the women's giant slalom, Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) celebrated her 70th World Cup victory on Saturday.
Marlene Schmotz finished 28th on her comeback, Andrea Filser had missed the final.
ara / dpa / sid
