Favorite: Marco Odermatt
At 25, Marco Odermatt hopes to finally win his first medal at the World Championships and can only aim for the title, as he has been dazzling for two seasons in super-G with ten podiums including six victories.
After a knee injury which caused him to miss two races in January, Odermatt resumed his march forward with two spectacular victories in Cortina d'Ampezzo before the Worlds.
A joint which he confirmed was perfectly restored after his passage during the combined two days ago on the Eclipse of Courchevel.
“
He's doing very well, it's clear that these weren't the best conditions with this poor visibility down below.
But it was a good rep for my knee
“, he assured with a smile.
If he is 100%, the Swiss seems almost invincible in this event…
The Dolphin: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde
Invincible, except perhaps for another skier: Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.
Indeed, the only two times this season that Odermatt had to admit defeat – at Beaver Creek and at Wengen – the identity of its winner was the same.
And of Norwegian descent.
Winner of the super-G crystal globe in 2016 and 2022, winner 9 times in the discipline at the World Cup, Kilde also has an astonishing point in common with Odermatt.
Neither of the two great champions has yet won a medal at the Worlds.
And of course, both would like to start directly with gold.
Which made Odermatt say on his arrival in Courchevel: “
Kilde will not be my only opponent here, but on paper, he will be my most serious rival.
Everyone will want to give the best and that the best wins.
»
The French outsider: Alexis Pinturault
Long a specialist in technique, especially the giant, Alexis Pinturault has become, over time, more and more comfortable on the super G. So much so that this season, this discipline is a strong point for the skier of Courchevel since it is there that he won his only podium of the winter in the World Cup, a 3rd place in Beaver Creek.
So of course, intrinsically, he goes slower than skiers with a more descending profile like Odermatt and especially Kilde.
But if the Courchevel route plays in the same category as that seen on Wednesday for the women in Méribel, namely more sinuous than really fast, the Frenchman can clearly have a say in victory.
All the more so with the confidence born of his victory in the combined on Tuesday.
French world champions
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Title holder: Vincent Kriechmayr
Double world champion in Cortina d'Ampezzo (downhill and super-G), the 31-year-old Austrian is less flamboyant this winter with only one podium in the discipline.
But the leader of the powerful Austrian team knows how to choose his goals and shine in big events, as he proved again with a victory in the Kitzbühel downhill in mid-January.
Above all, he has been metronomically consistent in the discipline since the start of the season.
Apart from his 9th place at Beaver Creek, he finished in the Top 5 each time. year in the World Cup finals.
The number: 2
Like the number of skiers who have won in the discipline this winter, namely Marco Odermatt (4 successes) and the other favorite in the race, the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (2).
The program
The start of the super G will be given at 11:30 am.
The first to start will be the German Romed Baumann.
Alexis Pinturault will start with bib number 8, just after Marco Odermatt and just before Kilde.
The other French will start in 4th (Blaise Giezendanner) and 5th position (Nils Allegre).
