Germany’s best slalom skier Linus Straßer took a very solid sixth place in the last slalom race before the World Championships in Courchevel/Meribel (February 6th to 19th) in Chamonix.
The victory on Saturday (February 4th, 2023) went to the Swiss Ramon Zenhäusler, who for a long time no longer played a major role in the World Cup, but has now come back in an outstanding manner.
Ginnis with clearly the best running time
A small ski sensation was achieved by Ginnis, who was 23rd (!) after the first run and catapulted himself up to second place with a crazy second run. His runtime was by far the best, for example, he took 52.15 seconds ahead of third-placed Swiss Daniel Yule by a whopping 1.4 seconds.
Straßer started the second run eight tenths of a second behind, but drove a little too cautiously after the start and missed the opportunity to really get going. He had a good rhythm in the lower part, but lacked the final aggressiveness to reach more than sixth place, tied with Norwegian Alexander Steen Olsen.
Linus Straßer finished sixth in Chamonix
Straßer: “I’m looking forward to the World Cup”
Straßer was not one hundred percent satisfied in the ARD interview: “I wanted to start right away at the top, but I was a bit too inconsistent and then got a bit off the mark. It wasn’t enough in the first round, but I’m fully involved and of course I’m looking forward to the World Cup.”
Schmid crashes just before the finish
Alexander Schmid, 10th after race one, started his second round boldly and aggressively, was really good in the race for a top ten place before he was lifted out of a wave three goals before the end, lost his balance and fell. Schmid struggled on the sports show microphone: “I noticed during the preparation that I was doing well, but then I came on the heel, the ski went straight and I couldn’t react anymore.”
David Ketterer finished an equally courageous performance as 23rd and summed it up: “It was quite difficult, but I still had to step on the gas a lot, because a lot was possible forwards and backwards. Overall, of course, I’m happy that I was able to drive both races, even if there was still a little more to do.”