There is a gondola lift in the Ötztal that transports skiers from Obergurgl to Hochgurgl and back. This train was once christened “Topexpress”, with a name that leads completely on the wrong track. The Topexpress is more of a slow train – and where the gondolas make a curve, they almost stand still. All of this is worth mentioning because the Munich ski racer Linus Straßer must have felt something similar on Sunday in Gurgl: like this top express that becomes more of a stop express in the curve.
The almost 10,000 guests looked up in the direction of Kirchenkar in disbelief on Sunday morning. What was going on there? Of course, this slalom run was very twisty and difficult to complete. But like that? Linus Straßer, one of the world’s best in his field, was wearing starting number one, which can be an advantage – but from the first gate he visibly struggled to stay on track. At times he placed his skis completely across the slope, and in some turns he stood more than carving or swinging. Like a defeated boxer about to be knocked out, he somehow saved himself across the finish line. And even though there was no comparison time yet, Straßer, sitting in the overall leader’s chair and staring into space, looked as if he already knew: This time things went completely wrong.
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A remarkable first round developed, at the end of which not a single German starter qualified for the final. Sebastian Holzmann was eliminated in 35th place. out, Linus Straßer in 38th, Alexander Schmid was 41st. And to complete the frustration in the German Ski Association (DSV) team, the best DSV man of the day, Anton Tremmel in 31st, missed run two by, of course: a hundredth of a second.
“It was just a fight from the first goal to the last. I was never really into competition,” said Linus Straßer after the race. In the finish area there was comfort from his little daughter, who cuddled up to him and chewed on a pretzel. But it was especially the dad who was pissed off, as it soon became clear. “That was just the material,” said Straßer. So skis and bindings. “I never sat at the poker table, I stood in front of it and knocked on the door and couldn’t get in.” He and his service man experimented with new material at the beginning of this season. “This is of course associated with a risk, as we saw today,” said Straßer. For the time being he will “revert completely back to my old material”.
The Kirchenkarpiste became the favorite rodeo this Sunday. Manuel Feller, last year’s winner from Gurgl and the home fans’ biggest hope, made a mistake after a very quick split and thus an early exit. The returnee, Lucas Braathen, had a similar experience; he also took the lead before old master Marcel Hirscher was eliminated minutes later after a driving error. The 35-year-old Austrian, who has been starting for the Netherlands this season, even questioned his comeback project. He felt “a little bit out of place,” he said. Hirscher, who skis with his own brand of skis, also struggled with the choice of materials. “It seems that the line as to which setup works in these conditions is becoming increasingly stark.”
In the end, the Frenchman Clement Noël won the Gurgl slalom, as he did last time in Levi, Finland, ahead of the Swede Kristoffer Jakobsen and Atle Lie McGrath from Norway. And while they celebrated their local hero Fabio Gstrein for ninth place and as the best Austrian in Gurgl, the German delegation was long gone – most likely with the help of the top express.
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