Josef Ferstl and Andreas Sander convince at the downhill race in Val Gardena. Her teammate Thomas Dreßen, on the other hand, complains of an injury. An Austrian ends Aleksander Aamodt Kilde’s winning streak. Of course, Marco Odermatt is also on the podium again.
Josef Ferstl followed the races of his competitors on the big screen with excitement, at the end there was the certainty of his best result of the season. At the Downhill World Cup in Val Gardena, Italy, the 33-year-old raced to sixth place on Thursday, breaking the World Cup norm. He skied well and had fun, said Ferstl. “Sixth place, great placement. The World Cup qualification is over,” he said.
On the demanding Saslong with its dreaded bumps and jumps of up to 80 meters, the man from Traunstein was only 0.28 seconds behind the Austrian winner Vincent Kriechmayr on Thursday. Second was the Swiss overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt ahead of Matthias Mayer from Austria. Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who had won the first two shot drives of the season, had to settle for fifth.
Thomas Dreßen missed out on the points in the race that was also included in the program after a driving error, grabbed his right thigh in the finish area and hobbled through the snow after the race. The thigh is not doing so well, reported the Mittenwalder. “I hope it’s just a strain. The physio will take a look at that.” He didn’t want to speculate about whether he will also start in the regularly planned downhill run on Saturday.
Andreas Sander finished 14th in the catch-up race that was canceled on December 2nd in Beaver Creek (USA) as the second-best German. “That was a good race for me. I usually criticize a lot when I drive, but today there is nothing to criticize “, judged the 33-year-old after his best downhill placing this season. “I notice that things are going uphill, that the speed is there and now it’s time to keep at it,” said Sander. He had finished the two previous downhill races in Lake Louise (Canada) and Beaver Creek as 31st and 19th. Luis Vogt (32nd), Romed Baumann (33rd) and Dominik Schwaiger, who fell early, went away empty-handed. On Friday there is a Super-G in Val Gardena, followed by the second descent on Saturday.