When the slalom riders celebrate their World Cup debut in Gurgl, the Germans’ eyes are primarily on Linus Straßer, who has a lot planned this season.
The slalom specialist wants to compete for overall victory in his flagship discipline this winter. After the Norwegian Lucas Braathen, the best slalom rider of the previous season, completely unexpectedly withdrew in October, Straßer has one less competitor in the fight for the small crystal ball.
Goals – podium and victories
To do this, the 31-year-old needs even more consistency in his performance – also at the season opener in Gurgl (Saturday from 10.45 a.m. on TV and live stream on BR). “My personal goal is to really be competitive in every race”said Straßer with a view to the new season. “That means competing for the podium or for victories.”
He has been on a World Cup podium ten times in his career, including three times at the top. In each of the last three winters, Straßer finished in the top ten of the overall slalom rankings. The Munich native’s driving skills are undisputed.
No desire for the World Cup anymore
Not only his last triumph so far at the night slalom in Schladming in January 2022 showed that Straßer can beat everyone. However, there were also disappointments. After the botched World Cup in February, he struggled with motivation problems. “I just didn’t feel like it anymore”he said.
Straßer had his sights set on a medal in the World Cup slalom in Courchevel when he finished fourth after the first run, but only came ninth after a botched second run. In the parallel race he also remained below his potential in 14th place.
Strong competition in the slalom
Now a new attempt. However, the competition is quite fierce: recently the slalom was hotly contested. The Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, the Austrian Manuel Feller, the Swiss Ramon Zenhäuser and Loic Meillard and the French Olympic champion Clement Noel are certainly among the candidates who are likely to be at the top.
Strasser will have to give everything – until the end of the season. Last season, however, the strength and results decreased. Streeter “physically no longer able to pull through,” explained national coach Christian Schwaiger and justified this, among other things, with the colds that plagued the athlete, especially around Christmas and the turn of the year.