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Linus Straßer in Kitzbühel: "Drived cool, but bitter"
Photo:
IMAGO/GEPA pictures/ Mario Buehner / IMAGO/GEPA pictures
Alone, alone:
Manuel Feller and his nerves, it's a story full of tragedy.
The Austrian slalom specialist had planned so much for his home game, he comes from Fieberbrunn, 30 kilometers from the Kitzbüheler Ganslernhang.
Hundreds of supporters traveled from there to shout at Feller's victory.
The Feller fans even rented a place to party before and after the race.
Then Feller raced to first place in the first round - the stage seemed set.
But then Feller had to fix it, all by himself.
He was the last runner to start the final – and lost his balance after only a few seconds of driving.
The Austrian fans groaned after the threader, the stadium DJ played "My Heart Will Go On".
One's suffering:
As bitter as Feller's departure is, it didn't come as a complete surprise.
The 30-year-old skis more aggressively than few in the field, but despite his outstanding talent he has only won two World Cups.
Because the slalom, this pole dance, is very much a matter of the mind.
Daniel Yule, this year's winner, knows that too.
Three years ago, the Swiss catapulted himself to the top of the world, won three slaloms in one season - and then lost his feeling.
For a long time, little went to Yule, who increasingly quarreled with himself.
Now his head is back on the job, won in Madonna di Campiglio before Christmas and now in Kitzbühel.
It can be so easy.
The result:
Briton Dave Ryding finished second behind Yule, Norwegian Lucas Braathen completed the podium.
Linus Straßer was a hundredth of a second behind in third place.
And another one in second place.
Here's the message.
The Schweinsberg:
Linus Straßer starts for the ski department of the TSV 1860 Munich, but lives in Kirchberg, a neighboring village of Kitzbühel.
There he learned to ski as a child, probably nobody knows the Ganslernhang better.
At the World Cups, Strasser's local mountain is damned, 14th place was his best result so far.
"You pig mountain!" he shouted at the slope last year.
"It's hard to get into a flow here," said Straßer before the race.
It went better this time, Straßer found his rhythm and drove calmly towards the finish line.
And yet I was deeply saddened.
"Drived cool, but bitter," said Straßer.
"With such a small gap, you always think that you could have gotten that out of one or the other swing." Joy and sorrow, only a blink of an eye apart in slalom.
The British rocket:
Dave Ryding was significantly happier than Strasser.
The Briton, who learned to ski on mats, won his first World Cup race in Kitzbühel in 2022.
As the first Brit.
Aged 35.
The story was almost too cheesy to be true.
This season Ryding didn't do anything for a long time, he didn't get past twelfth place.
Nobody believed that his victory would be repeated, especially after Ryding had only finished 15th in the first round.
But then »The Rocket remembered«, ignited the turbo, seemed to hover over all the bumps of the Ganslernhang in the final and ended up in second place in the final standings.
Ice, ice, baby:
The slaloms in Garmisch and most recently in Wengen were tough times for the drivers and the spectators. The slope softened so much in the first run that the runners with the rear start numbers had no chance.
Winter was back in Kitzbühel, the track was smooth and hard.
The journalists, who are normally allowed to inspect the course before the race, were not allowed up this time.
The organizers saw the risk of slipping for non-professionals as too great.
With good reason, 21 runners were eliminated in the first round.
Kitzbuehel is back:
Two years ago, no fans were allowed at all, in 2022 there were only a few tickets due to the pandemic.
This year the house was full again: 20,000 came on Friday, 45,000 saw Aleksander Aamodt Kilde's downhill victory on Saturday, 20,000 made the pilgrimage to the Ganslernhang on Sunday.
And around the races, too, the exuberance was back after the leaden pandemic years.
On Saturday evening it was no longer possible to get through the historic core of the 8,000 soul village.
While the beautiful and rich (and those who thought they were) had already retired in their glitter jackets and fur hats, the city belonged to the predominantly young party people.
The music blared from three stages, while »Layla«, »Hurra die Gams«, or the inevitable Andreas Gabalier came from every bar and pub.
Fans waved XXL flags in the colors of Austria,
Switzerland or France.
You don't have to like this après-ski binge.
But it's definitely better than a deserted city center.
Blow after blow:
The slalom skiers are not allowed to rest.
From Tyrol we continue to Styria, on Tuesday night slalom on the Planai in Schladming.
And the World Cup in France is already in sight.
The slalom aces will start in Courchevel on February 19, the conditions high up in the French Alps are likely to be similar to those in Kitzbühel.
Lots of snow and crispy cold.
Straßer gets along well with it, he is considered a title candidate after his consistent season.
But that was little consolation for him on Sunday.