The Swiss star edged compatriot Franjo von Allmen on a shortened Saslong course, with Italy’s Dominik Paris third
Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt in motion through the first run. Photograph: REUTERS
ITALY:
Marco Odermatt tightened his grip on the Alpine snowboarding World Cup when he gained the primary of two downhills in Val Gardena on Thursday, becoming a member of Italian nice Alberto Tomba on 50 victories on the elite circuit.
The 28-year-old Odermatt, who gained the opening downhill in Beaver Creek earlier this month, powered down a shortened Saslong course in a single minute and 24.48 seconds, 0.15 forward of early pacesetter and fellow Swiss Franjo von Allmen.
Native favorite Dominik Paris took third place, 0.19 off the tempo.
“It is a fantastic achievement however on Saturday we now have the race from the highest, so we’ll simply have a fast toast,” mentioned Odermatt.
The beginning of the race, which was standing in for a cancelled downhill in Beaver Creek earlier this season, was delayed by over an hour resulting from poor visibility within the higher a part of the course. It was well worth the await Odermatt, who has now gained 5 of the eight races he took half on this season.
The four-time general World Cup reigning champion recovered from a minor blip in the midst of the course to clinch his sixth downhill victory, a yr after prevailing in Val Gardena.
With 50 wins, he sits in fourth place within the listing of males’s all-time World Cup race winners, led by the retired Ingemar Stenmark (86).
Odermatt now leads the general World Cup standings with 605 factors, with Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen in second place, 303 factors behind.
Norway’s Fredrik Moeller, who gained a super-G in Bormio final season, crashed closely after taking a spin throughout a bounce.
He was flown by helicopter to the Bolzano hospital.
“Fredrik is badly bruised and has misplaced two tooth, and is doing nicely below the circumstances. He’s being carefully monitored by the hospital and the Ski Federation’s well being crew to rule out accidents after such a extreme crash as he has been by,” nationwide crew physician Marc Strauss mentioned.
Thursday’s downhill was the primary of three pace races on the Saslong, adopted by Friday’s super-G and Saturday’s full-length basic downhill.
With 5 race days in a row, pace occasions in Val Gardena being adopted straight by Alta Badia’s males’s large slalom and slalom, organisers shortened Thursday’s downhill to ease the bodily pressure on the athletes in an Olympic season.
The boys’s Olympic races on the February 6-22 Milano Cortina Winter Video games might be held in Bormio.
