He was lying in wait, but it didn’t really work. Linus Straßer missed out on a place in the top three at the World Cup in Madonna di Campiglio on Wednesday (January 8, 2025). The Bulgarian Albert Popov surprisingly secured victory in Italy.
In sixth place, Straßer was 0.36 seconds behind third place, which was occupied by Samuel Kolega from Croatia. The Swiss Loic Meillard came second, 44 hundredths of a second behind Popov. The wait for the first podium place of this season continues for Straßer. At least last year’s second-best slalom skier achieved his best result this winter after three zeros in the series and thus once again scored World Cup points.
“It was a good race, if there’s no mistake at the bottom, then we can go towards the podium”was Straßer’s conclusion at the BR microphone. Nevertheless, he was generally satisfied with his performance. The last transition is “semi-optimal” been. Basically, the placement in this race didn’t matter to him because of the perspective and the approach “targeted” had been. “It’s only a matter of time before the result is really, really good again.”
Shortly before the steep slope he stood sideways and lost speed. A second major mistake at the last transition ultimately cost him a possible podium finish. Straßer was initially angry when he saw the time on the scoreboard and shouted out his frustration.
Decent Starting position after run one
Straßer started the race with start number 3. After three failures in a row, he didn’t fully attack on the narrow course with the increasingly icy slope. Although he did well in the upper part, he still had some reserves for the finale. However, he was already 0.76 seconds behind the previously leading Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath.
“That was a very stable run. If I had had one or two better results before, then I would go down the steep slope half a second faster.”he explained after the first round. “The line is very narrow today. It’s a top starting position and there’s still a lot left in the second run.”
Several favorites do not reach the finish line
As a result, it became apparent that Straßer apparently chose the right strategy. Two of the previous season’s winners, Clément Noël (France) and Timon Haugan (Norway), were eliminated in the first race after driving errors. Henrik Kristoffersen, who was once again the favorite, was also unable to challenge his compatriot’s time. The World Cup leader made a serious mistake in the second transition and was still well behind Straßer at the finish.
Of the first 15 starters, only the Swiss Loic Meillard and Samuel Kolega from Croatia moved ahead of Straßer, who was the fifth from last starter to go into the slope on the Canalone Miramonti in the second round. Last year’s winner Marco Schwarz from Austria, who hasn’t really gotten going this season due to injuries, also got involved relatively quickly and was eliminated.
Popov surprises them all
Many athletes also had problems in the second round with the slope, which was now faster in some places but still very slippery. Of the 30 drivers who started in the final, nine were eliminated. The Swiss Daniel Yule, 18th after the first round, set the first real benchmark time, which was only beaten nine drivers later by Kristoffersen.
But he didn’t sit in the leaders’ box for long because the Bulgarian Albert Popov went on the attack and significantly beat the best time. Straßer was unable to attack him and Manuel Feller (Austria) also retired after a driving error. When Kolega couldn’t match the time either, it was clear that Popov would be on the podium for the second time in his career. Since Meillard couldn’t beat his time either, the 27-year-old from Sofia had the best career result in the books. With McGrath’s threader, he was even able to celebrate his first World Cup triumph.
Albert Popov celebrates after his victory in Madonna di Campiglio
Tremmel, Meisen and Himmelsbach out
The three other German starters Anton Tremmel, Adrian Meisen and Fabian Himmelsbach did not make it to the final. They didn’t make it to the finish and therefore missed out on qualifying for the second round.