Damper in the Slalom World Cup: Straßer screwed up twice in Schladming

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Damper in the slalom world cup
Straßer screwed up twice in Schladming

Linus Straßer is Germany's best slalom driver. But in Schladming it is like a week before in Flachau: A driving error puts an end to any hope of a good result. There is not much time left to search for forms before the World Championships.

Ski racer Linus Straßer has chosen an inconvenient time for a minor form crisis. Almost two weeks before the start of the World Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo, the Munich-based man did not finish in the second slalom in a row. Nine days after his failure in the first run at the World Cup in Flachau, the 27-year-old failed in the final of the legendary "Night Race" on the Planai in Schladming.

"It's not a crisis, you have to stay cool now," asserted Straßer, who won in Zagreb at the beginning of the month and took second place in Adelboden, on Bayerischer Rundfunk, and added: "It doesn't always go up, it can sometimes there are difficult phases ". He is now looking forward to the two slaloms this coming weekend in Chamonix / France, the last before the World Cup (February 8-21). After that, it is important to "prepare for the World Cup in peace".

The Austrian Marco Schwarz was the first to win a second slalom this winter when the snow continued to drift over the Planai, where there are usually around 50,000 spectators. Second and third place went to the French Clement Noel (+0.68 seconds) and Alexis Pinturault (+0.82).

No unity with the material yet

After the unsuccessful first run, after which he had just made it to the final as 27th, Straßer hadn't wanted to look for excuses, but he had asked for understanding. "I've run out of breath a little in the last two races," he said.

One reason for the weak phase: Straßer had to pause for three months because of an inflammation of the quadriceps tendon and was only able to start training in mid-November. As a result, he lacked valuable time to test the right material for all conditions.

ARD expert Felix Neureuther also recognized that his former roommate is currently not in the best shape. "Linus has not found the perfect setup," he analyzed, and he also lacks "the liveliness and lightness".

Before Straßer failed for the second time in a row since the races in Kitzbühel and Schladming in January 2019, the other German runners had to pack: Sebastian Holzmann (33rd) and David Ketterer (41st) missed the final, Julian Rauchfuß and Anton Tremmel retired in the first run.