Ski racer Linus Straßer also missed out on a top ten place at the start of the new year.
The Munich native only finished 14th in French Olympic champion Clement Noel’s narrow triumph in the night slalom in Madonna di Campiglio. The up-and-coming Finn Eduard Hallberg came second ahead of Noel’s compatriot Paco Rassat.
Straßer hung his head in disappointment after crossing the finish line on the Canalone Miramonti slope. The Olympic season remains tough for the 33-year-old. He only made it into the top ten in eighth place at the slalom in Gurgl, Austria, in November.
There are four more slaloms scheduled before the Winter Games in Italy in February – in Adelboden, Wengen, Kitzbühel and Schladming. For Straßer, who made a change in material in the summer, these are likely to be crucial weeks in his search for form.
The third-placed World Cup winner last season told BR that he remains confident: “It’s just a stopover on the way. The direction is right. You just have to stay patient and believe in the process – then it will happen.”
Straßer makes a mistake on the steep slope
The first round in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, was extremely tight. In seventh place, Straßer was only 0.18 seconds behind the podium places. The best 19 drivers were just one second apart overall.
In the final, however, many athletes had problems with the demanding course – including Straßer, who made a mistake on the steep slope and fell back seven places. There were “many good passages,” said the five-time World Cup winner. The one big mistake in the second run “really hurt,” said Straßer, “especially when you realize that you can actually talk to the spectators when you drive past them so slowly.”