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The third World Cup slalom this winter brings Manuel Feller as the winner for the second time. Marc Rochat comes in a strong fifth on the Chuenisbärgli.
The podium
- 1. Manuel Feller 1:52.62 minutes
- 2. Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) + 0.02 seconds
- 3. Dominik Raschner (AUT) + 0.23
Even without Marco Schwarz (out for the season), the ÖSV team continues to set the tone in Stangenwald. After the triple triumph at the 2023/24 slalom premiere at home in Gurgl, the Austrians brought two athletes back onto the podium in Adelboden.
Manuel Feller greeted us from the top step, bagging his second win of the season and taking the lead in the discipline World Cup again. The 31-year-old showed an extremely strong finish and raced from 5th place to the top – also thanks to the forced hundredths of luck.
Because Atle Lie McGrath in second place was only 0.02 seconds behind. Another 21 hundredths behind, Dominik Raschner achieved his first ever slalom podium. He laid the foundation for his masterpiece with starting number 35 in the morning.
Alexander Steen Olsen leaves the Chuenisbärgli with bad memories. He had taken his first-ever half-time lead, but gave up his brilliant starting position early in the second run and was eliminated.
The Swiss
- 5. Marc Rochat + 0.44 seconds
- 8. Luca Aerni + 0.64
- 10. Daniel Yule + 0.86
- 12. Loïc Meillard + 1.00
- 14. Ramon Zenhäuser + 1.20
Marc Rochat got the most valuable classification from the locals’ point of view. The Romand is gradually becoming an Adelboden specialist and has even moved up four positions after its 9th place last year. At that time he was still third best within the Swiss Ski team, this time the leader’s role belongs to him as fifth.
The 31-year-old had only performed better once: 10 months ago when he came fourth at the World Cup final in Andorra. And with his 5th place he also equalized the top Swiss slalom result this winter. Could the day have gone better for him? He then answered cheekily and with a smile: “Yes, if it had been enough for the podium.”
Luca Aerni was also able to convince in 8th place. For him the decision went up 7 places. While Daniel Yule was able to improve slightly (from 11 to 10), Loïc Meillard made a jump from 21 to 12. Things went in the opposite direction for Ramon Zenhäuser, who after a late mistake was the best Swiss at halftime (8th). 14th place slipped.
Tanguy Nef had to say goodbye to the home crowd from the Swiss Ski sextet in the second run without being judged. That too ended without any countable result World Cup debut for Matthias Iten. At the first opportunity, the 24-year-old from Zug was able to acrobatically stay on his skis, but shortly before crossing the finish line he was eliminated in round 1.
The quantum leap
The piste was already noticeably marked when River Radamus, starting number 70, prepared to make the cut in the morning. He had never made it past the halfway point in his 8 previous rare attempts in the slalom.
In Adelboden, the indestructible 25-year-old from Colorado raced up to 29th place despite the grooves. He seemed inspired by his 4th place the day before in the giant slalom, his career best result. Radamus used the early starting number in the second attempt to finish 19th in the final results.
The conditions: initially cloudy, later clear
It was only once again a tough performance by the piste workers that made the second race possible within 24 hours on the Chuenisbärgli in challenging conditions. There was a lot of snow to slide out in the early hours. Visibility initially remained difficult, but the fog in the upper part of the route cleared completely by the finish. And at the finale in the afternoon it was a little less cloudy.
This is how it continues
After Adelboden is before Wengen. These 4 races will be scheduled one after the other at the foot of the Jungfrau from Thursday: shortened downhill, super-G, classic Lauberhorn downhill and slalom (all live on SRF as usual).
For the pole artists who haven’t been in action much this winter, things continue quickly after the Chuenisbärgli and Wengen with another 4 competitions within 3 weeks in Kitzbühel, Schladming, Chamonix and Bansko.