Daniela Maier made it onto the podium again at the World Cup in Val Thorens. The 28-year-old ski crosser came second. The day was disappointing for Florian Wilmsmann. He didn’t make it to the grand final after a collision. There was a photo finish there.
Daniela Maier has confirmed her strong form. The 28-year-old ski crosser celebrated her World Cup comeback on Thursday after a long injury break and went straight to third place. A day later she even went one better. In Val Thorens she showed a strong competition and a very good final. Only the Canadian India Sherret was faster there and took the win. Maier came second ahead of Marielle Thompson (CAN).
Difficult conditions in Val Thorens
There were extremely difficult conditions this Friday afternoon. Strong wind, shortened route, a mistake at the starting gate that meant the race had to be interrupted for almost half an hour, and finally the anchoring of the finish gate came loose before the semi-final. Not only driving skills were required, but also adaptability.
Maier managed this excellently. Despite a long break before the semi-final, during which the starters had to keep warm despite the icy wind, Maier remained confident and reached the final as the fastest. However, Sherret was too strong there. Maier had to end last season in January due to a torn ligament.
Bad luck for DSV men – Wilmsmann unhappy
Things were very unfortunate for the DSV men. Florian Wilmsmann, who came second in the photo finish the day before, had an unfortunate exit in the semifinals: in the fight for pole position, he collided with the American Tyler Wallsch, lost a lot of time and fell to third Place back.
There was another collision there, after which the German took sixth place. A strange thing happened in the grand finale: Alex Fiva (SUI) and Adam Kappacher (AUT) crossed the finish line at exactly the same time and therefore shared the victory. Canadian Kevin Drury came third.
Tim Hronek was eliminated in the round of 16 after the Czech Daniel Paulus landed on Hronek’s ski after a jump. Niklas Bachsleitner got it much worse. The 28-year-old suffered a broken lower leg during training before the first race. Only Jonas Bachl-Staudinger should be satisfied with this race day. He reached the quarterfinals in the third World Cup race of his career, but had no chance there.