On Tuesday (February 7th, 2023) the men will also start at the World Championships in Courchevel/Méribel. As with the women, the first medal decision will be made in the Alpine combination, where the Austrian Marco Schwarz wants to defend his title from 2021 in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The alpine nation’s ski racers master the combination like few others: Schwarz’s teammate Johannes Strolz became Olympic champion in Beijing 2022.
In addition to the two, the strong all-rounder and local hero Alexis Pinturault (silver 2021) and the Swiss Loic Meillard (bronze 2021) are also among the favorites. Meillard in particular has delivered strong results in all disciplines this season and could now celebrate his first major victory in France. The men are fighting for medals on the “Eclipse” slope, which was only tested last year.
Baumann, Jocher, Sander German starters
From a German point of view, Simon Jocher, Andreas Sander and Romed Baumann will be at the start. Also to get to know the L’Eclipse, the new slope, for the other speed competitions. Jocher was a respectable fifth at the 2021 World Cup, but this season he has been out almost consistently after a training crash in Beaver Creek in the USA. In a discipline that the DSV does not necessarily suit: the last German World Cup gold medalist was Luggi Leitner in 1964 in Innsbruck.
The traditional alpine duel consisting of a downhill run and a slalom (with two runs) has become the stepchild of the ski scene. There is no longer a combination in the World Cup, it is still held at the Olympics and World Championships – but since 2007 only with a slalom run and since 2021 with a Super-G instead of a downhill run.