Sölden, start of the new World Cup season – a promising affiche from the Swiss point of view! We have a hot iron in the fire for both women and men. For me, Lara Gut-Behrami and Marco Odermatt are top favorites for the overall World Cup.
Last winter, Lara put away her doubts in one fell swoop, drifted along the bends with determination, and showed the skis the way. So she found her feeling for speed again. She will also be able to take advantage of this in the Super-G and in technically more difficult descents.
The slalom absence brings her welcome rest days that her rival Petra Vlhova will not have. The racing machine Lara will score everywhere! The third member of the group is of course Mikaela Shiffrin. She is the best technician across all disciplines. She has already entered the weak year, she will – spurred on by her friend Alexander Kilde – go back into the fight more aggressively.
Ski start in Sölden – the program
Saturday, October 23rd: Giant slalom women 10.00 a.m. / 1.15 p.m.
Sunday, October 24th: Giant slalom men 10.00 a.m. / 1.30 p.m.
You can see both races up close in the Blick live ticker
Saturday, October 23rd: Giant slalom women 10.00 a.m. / 1.15 p.m.
Sunday, October 24th: Giant slalom men 10.00 a.m. / 1.30 p.m.
You can see both races up close in the Blick live ticker
With the men, I actually only see two who can drive around the big ball. Our Marco Odermatt and Alexis Pinturault. Both can really score in three disciplines, with the king duel in the giant slalom.
Pinturault brings with him the experience and sense of achievement from last season. But is that relief – or maybe already a feeling of satiety?
Marco, on the other hand, is still a long way from exhausting his potential. I rate him physically and technically even better than last year. And in his team he encounters indicators on a daily basis that force him to keep improving.