The Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin won the downhill in Bormio. The race was overshadowed by the serious fall of the Austrian Marco Schwarz.
If a perfect drive by overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt isn’t enough to win, someone must have driven exceptionally well. It was the Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin (1:50.73 min) who won the downhill on the “Stelvio” with a lead of nine hundredths of a second over Odermatt. “I have rarely skied more convincingly,” said the defeated Swiss on the ARD microphone and showed himself to be a fair sportsman. “I came to the finish and thought ‘it couldn’t get any better’.”
Afterwards he went straight to Sarrazin and congratulated him on his victory. “I felt very, very good from the first goal,” said the winner, describing his even more perfect ride. The Canadian Cameron Alexander came third (+1.23 s)
Co-favorites Kilde and Paris are eliminated
The slope in Bormio is not known as “La Bestia” for nothing. The six-time Bormio winner Dominic Paris had to experience this painfully, as did Aleksander Aamodt Kilde. The Italian Paris was able to finish his journey, but missed any chance of getting on the podium. At Kilde the journey ended quickly after a material fault. The German Romed Baumann also did not reach the finish.
He made a mistake on the first goal and was eliminated. Analyzing his journey, the Kiefersfelden native said it was “brutally fast”. “I wanted to really accelerate in the starting section and ended up on the inside ski a bit during the first swing.”
Heavy fall for Black
Things were more tragic for Marco Schwarz. After a serious fall, the Austrian hit the safety net and then had to be transported away by helicopter. The race was interrupted for minutes.
Sander celebrates his best performance of the season
Andreas Sander, who opened the race, was the best DSV driver in 15th place (+2.91 s). “I’m still not fit. I notice that and I have to accept it,” said a still satisfied Sander after his run. It was the best result of the season for the Allgäu native, who had a serious fall during training in Val Gardena a few days ago.
The other German drivers also missed the top ten. Simon Jocher was only not far slower than Sander and finished 17th (+2.98). Josef Ferstl was 29th (+4.01).
Thomas Dreßen had to miss the race after a virus infection and will not take part in the Super G on Friday (December 29th).