Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is the ski king of Kitzbühel and after his triumph yesterday with start number 11 on the notorious Streif, he is also the declared favorite for the second downhill classic on Sunday (1.30 p.m., ORF 1). “It’s unbelievable that I was so fast,” marveled the Norwegian, who had missed the Hahnenkamm races last year due to a cruciate ligament rupture shortly before. “In the morning I saw a photo of myself with crutches, now I stand there as the winner. It’s incredible, it was so cool to drive. I’m incredibly proud,” beamed the friend of technology queen Mikaela Shiffrin (USA ).
“The rest was modest”
For Kilde it was the sixth win of the season on a shortened course (starting above the Mausefalle), the Austrians landed in front of 1000 spectators in the beaten field. “At least I don’t have to go to the award ceremony, I’ll have more from the afternoon,” Vincent Kriechmayr reacted with gallows humor to his disappointing 13th place. “The sector times in the middle part were very good, the rest was modest. I lost a bit of time in the flatter passages, I would have liked to have shown something better,” explained the 30-year-old double world champion from Gramastetten.
Head brand colleague Matthias Mayer was on course for a podium up to start number 43. Then came Blaise Giezendanner (Fra), drove four hundredths faster and relegated the “Mothl” to fourth place. That hurts.
“I had a great ride down from the Seidlalm,” said the Carinthian, who struggled with his low starting number (7). “It wasn’t ideal, but we just didn’t know what the weather would be like.”
The same applied to Kriechmayr, who started the race with the “3”. “The Vinc has done nothing good with it,” Mayer stated dry as a bone.
“It was a great ride”
Daniel Hemetsberger, who confirmed his entitlement to an Olympic ticket in tenth place, registered fresh snow on the piste while driving number 4. He didn’t want that to be understood as criticism of the slope workers. At 2 o’clock in the morning, the track commanders had started work and put in place an almost perfect runway.
“It was a great ride from me, I got everything relatively well,” said Hemetsberger, who made his World Cup debut in Kitzbühel four years ago. A challenge like the Streif is a treat for the 30-year-old from Nußdorf, who can’t be shaken by anything. Even four cruciate ligament tears didn’t throw him off course.
A more pleasing overall result from a red-white-red point of view would have been desirable yesterday. The ÖSV aces gambled – including Max Franz, who went out on the track with number 1 as a test pilot and then left only three men behind in 40th place. “Nothing went further. One was definitely not ideal.”
Lucky in misfortune was Daniel Danklmaier, who was hit in the U-Hakerl and lost a ski. The Styrian hit the safety net pretty hard, but got off lightly with bruises on his elbows and shins. Others – like Giezendanner or his French compatriot Johan Clarey (runner-up with No. 17) – took advantage of the moment.
Tomorrow there is a chance for revenge if the weather and the start number cooperate. (Alex)
Source: Nachrichten
