The weather at the men’s slalom in Bulgaria was changeable. This had an impact on the performance of the drivers. Linus Straßer was annoyed.
ARD expert Felix Neureuther called the weather in Bansko in Bulgaria “already challenging”. Nevertheless, the slalom skiers led by German ski star Linus Straßer had to go down the slopes on Sunday morning. During the first run it snowed at the beginning of the route. It rained in the middle section. There was also a lot of wind. “The conditions are special,” Neureuther continued.
This was also evident in Straßer. The German was unable to deliver a top performance in the first run like in Kitzbühel or Schladming and started with a large gap to the previously leading Frenchman Clement Noël (0:49.13). When he reached the finish, Straßer did not end up in the top five. He was seventh after the first run (+1.40).
“Already flying blind”
One driver after the other had problems due to the difficult visibility and weather conditions. Neureuther explained: “Because the raindrops are on the glasses, it’s a blind flight.”
Straßer said after his run on ARD: “It wasn’t a bad run, but you can’t move because you’re tied to the track that was with me. That means you drive more distance.” And more travel costs the athletes more time. Straßer continued: “I’ve now looked over the line-up again and it looks like it’s based on starting numbers.” The drivers with the lower starting numbers had an advantage.
Straßer added, visibly annoyed: “It’s an outdoor sport, that’s part of it. It’s definitely borderline. Now it’s raining again, wind. It’s not in my decision-making power. I’ll try to do a good second round and then we’ll see what comes out.” Straßer explained that he had already discussed this with his colleagues. As a driver, this is “frustrating.” It’s a shame. After 31 starters, the jury agreed and stopped the slalom.