French skier Cyprien Sarrazin created a surprise by winning one of the most difficult descents on the calendar on Thursday December 28 in Bormio (Italy). He is nine hundredths ahead of the Swiss Marco Odermatt, big favorite of the event. Starting with bib 4, on a track that was always impeccable, Sarrazin impressed by opting for the shortest trajectories while maintaining high speed throughout his race.
“I finally had a perfect round,” said the skier from Dévoluy (Hautes-Alpes) upon arrival, speaking to Eurosport. I felt good and enjoyed skiing here, which is truly an achievement! When I crossed the line, I told myself that I had done the job. »
“I had one of the best runs of my career. Congratulations to Cyprien Sarrazin, who really had a crazy round! », Reacted Marco Odermatt, best skier of the 2022-2023 season, at the microphone of Eurosport.
Eight years of waiting
This is the first victory of a Frenchman in a World Cup downhill in eight years and the success of Adrien Théaux in Santa Caterina (Italy), on December 30, 2015. The latter obtained 16th place, this Thursday in Bormio. No Frenchman has won on the legendary Stelvio, a track on which you have to have your heart set, since Luc Alphand in 1996.
Confident since the start of the season, Cyprien Sarrazin, 29, obtained a fourth place in Val Gardena (Italy) on December 16, during the second downhill of the season. In Bormio, he dominated Tuesday’s training session, before setting the fourth fastest time during Wednesday’s training session.
Subject to recurring back and knee pain, the Haut-Alpine undertook extensive physical preparation during the off-season to resolve these problems. This is his second World Cup victory, seven years after the first, in 2016, during the parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia (Italy).
Marco Schwarz falls and is injured
Among the other favorites, the Italian Dominik Paris fell before restarting and finishing more than 6 seconds behind. The Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde did not finish the race, a stone having damaged one of his skis.
Eight French people were engaged in this third descent of the season. For his debut in the discipline, the versatile Alexis Pinturault finished beyond 20th place. Nils Alphand, son of Luc, ranked 9th and Blaise Giezendanner 16th, tied with Adrien Théaux.
The race was also marked by the injury of the Austrian Marco Schwarz, Marco Odermatt’s great rival for the general classification of the World Cup. The skier was airlifted after his fall. On television images, we saw him suffering from knee pain. His season is probably over.