Clap for DSV stars in Wengen
“Psycho” Sarrazin triumphs, Pinturault falls brutally
January 12, 2024, 4:38 p.m
The weak season continues for the German speed men. Even at the Super-G in Wengen there was no top result. The best man on the legendary route is the wild Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin. Meanwhile, his compatriot Alexis Pinturault falls badly.
The German ski racers suffered a memorable defeat at the World Cup in Wengen. In the Super-G, Andreas Sander, the best DSV athlete, only came 25th on Friday. He was a good three seconds behind winner Cyprien Sarrazin from France. In a speed event – i.e. downhill or super-G – the German men have not been placed this far back since December 2018; At that time, Beaver Creek only achieved 30th place.
The top and even the top ten are currently far away. Sarrazin prevailed ahead of the Swiss local hero and favorite Marco Odermatt (+0.58 seconds) and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde from Norway (+1.00).
“It was a very good run. I accelerated the way I like it,” said Sarrazin, who celebrated his first victory in the World Cup shortly before the turn of the year in the downhill race in Bormio, Italy.
The race was overshadowed by a brutal crash by French veteran Alexis Pinturault, who was treated at the track for a long time and then flown away in a helicopter. Pictures of a fall after a jump shortly before the finish raise fears of a serious knee injury. Loud screams of pain could be heard on television from Pinturault, who had just become the father of a small daughter a few days ago. A diagnosis was initially pending. “It’s hard to be happy after my run when something like that happens to a friend,” said Pinturault’s compatriot and winner Sarrazin on ZDF.
Unlike the in-form Frenchman, who is nicknamed “Psycho” in the scene because of his extreme skiing style and was once again at the limit when his skis touched the safety fence in front of the Kernen-S, the German ski racers are running Hardly anything together at the moment. In addition to Sander, Simon Jocher still made it into the points in 29th place (+3.18), while Romed Baumann was disappointing in 37th place (+3.82). Josef Ferstl and Luis Vogt were eliminated. The former Kitzbühel winner Thomas Dreßen decided not to start in order to take part in the traditional Lauberhorn descent on Saturday (12.30 p.m./ZDF and Eurosport) to protect.
The German defeats this winter are surprising in that Baumann and Sander had each raced onto World Cup podiums at the end of the previous season. Currently, however, the DSV athletes are particularly lacking in aggressiveness, as the coaches complain.