Double victory for Switzerland at the World Cup downhill in Bormio. The Swiss Alexis Monney creates a surprise on the Stelvio and unexpectedly celebrates his first World Cup victory. He snatches it from his compatriot Franjo von Allmen. Marco Odermatt avoids a serious fall and misses the podium.
For a long time it looked as if Franjo von Allmen would celebrate his first World Cup victory on the Stelvio in Bormio. But then it wasn’t Marco Odermatt, but his compatriot Alexis Monney, who pushed the man from Boltigen out of the lead.
Monney snatches Allmen’s first World Cup victory
For Monney it was also the first World Cup victory of his career. In 1:53.43 minutes he achieved by far his best result in the World Cup. In his career so far he has finished in the top ten twice. Franjo von Allmen came second, 24 hundredths of a second behind.
He had already narrowly missed victory in the descent in Val Gardena before Christmas. “I wouldn’t have dreamed of that and I wish Alexis that with all my heart,” said the beaten 23-year-old as a fair loser in the ZDF interview.
The Canadian Alexander Cameron came third (+0.72 seconds), who showed the fastest time in training on Friday. It was Cameron’s first podium finish this winter.
Odermatt avoids a fall and misses the podium
The overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt started things quickly and was in the lead from the start. But in the middle section the Swiss were outclassed. Odermatt was just able to prevent a fall. However, the mistake cost valuable time, which the 27-year-old was unable to make up for, especially since the airbag opened when he almost fell.
The reigning overall World Cup winner was more than half a second behind at the finish (+0.56 seconds) and ended up fifth. “It’s amazing how much time he managed with the Aribag open,” praised van Allmen.
Odermatt himself found the safety measure to be good: “In the event of a mistake like this, it’s very good that the airbag opens,” said the Swiss and added: “Of course there are better things to do if you stay on your feet than with an open airbag drive, but I’m glad I got there safely.” He is now “satisfied if there are still a few points”.
Baumann cannot build on Val Gardena
The German Romed Baumann could miss it. The Kiefersfelden native was disappointing on the Stelvio and didn’t manage to build on his seventh place in the Val Gardena downhill. In Bormio he couldn’t get into the race right from the start and had big problems. In the end, he reached the finish 3.67 seconds behind and was in 29th place after 35 riders.
Cochran-Siegle also falls
There was a shadow over the weekend anyway due to the serious fall of Cyprien Zarrazin, who was seriously injured in training on Friday and suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. The infamous Stelvio also showed its teeth in the race on Saturday. Ryan Cochran-Siegle also crashed spectacularly during a promising split, but got off lightly. The American was able to leave the scene of the accident on skis.