Behind the trio there was a gap on the notorious Face de Bellevarde, the best ÖSV runner was initially Manuel Feller in eighth place (+1.20), Stefan Brennsteiner was tenth after 30 runners (+1.44).
From the ÖSV point of view, the first round was overshadowed by the failure of Adrian Pertl. The slalom vice world champion could have sustained a serious knee injury after initial fears. The 25-year-old from Carinthia got stuck with his skis on a gate pole in the lower part of the Face de Bellevarde and fell shortly afterwards. Before detailed examinations, the ÖSV assumed a cruciate ligament rupture. An exact diagnosis was not yet available.
In order for the “Critérium de la Première Neige”, the criterion of the first snow, to even go into the scene on Saturday, the piste teams had to do heavy work in view of the heavy snowfall. As if the slope wasn’t difficult enough anyway, it then presented itself restless with an additional flat view. ORF expert Thomas Sykora fell on his tracking shot, and the first runners also struggled noticeably before Sölden winner Odermatt shone with Swiss precision work on the tight, twisting course and also took advantage of his starting number 5.
Brennsteiner, who started twelfth, showed a committed drive, but, like many athletes before him, lost a lot of time on the last section. On the steepest giant slalom slope of the season, Feller made more visual mistakes than his teammate, but the Tyrolean’s aggressiveness was rewarded with a slightly faster time. “The only thing that felt good was the last five goals,” said Feller. “It’s to fight, we knew that.”
Source: Nachrichten
