The mood at the finish line had been a bit slacker, but just when one or the other of the 1,000 spectators threatened to disappear under a fluffy blanket of snow, the driver with start number 15 came along. Dave Ryding had finished the first run in sixth place, now he sprinted he even braver over the wavy slope, almost four tenths of a second he unbuttoned the Norwegian Lucas Braathen, who had been leading up to that point – the lead. That also tore the audience out of their polite affection, and so it was now clear at the latest who had secured the majority of the 1000 tickets for this slalom on the Kitzbühel Ganslernhang, for more than 200 euros a piece: the British, who are currently in apparently not holiday in small numbers in the Tyrolean winter resort.
Emotions were now sloshing back and forth, Ryding was drumming his fists in the air, his compatriots cheered louder and louder. The joy didn’t diminish when one runner after the other fell off the course, who had been even faster in the first run, up to the Italian Alex Vinatzer. By then, indeed, there was no one left to deny Ryding his first Alpine World Cup win, the first ever by a Briton.
Among other things, this brought Ryding a hearty nose click from the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, who was third on the day behind Ryding and Braathen. And Jai Geyer, the head coach of the British team, was of course audibly touched when he said on Austrian TV: “Nobody deserves that more than Dave.”
Thanks to the strong supporters from home: Dave Ryding at the award ceremony on the Ganslernhang.
(Photo: Lisi Niesner/Reuters)
As unreal as Ryding’s triumph seemed at first glance, it fits in with the winter slaloms listed so far. It’s so darn close there that many drivers would rather risk everything and retire than finish in 20th place. Clement Noel slipped off the course in Madonna shortly before the finish, Kristoffersen suffered the same fate in Wengen a week ago. And on Saturday, there was a 35-year-old Briton, from the Lancashire town of Chorley, hitherto known for its proximity to the Irish Sea and a mutton and onion stew. Certainly not for Alpine World Cup winners.
Without medals, funding in British sport dries up very quickly
Ryding’s biography reads as unusual as one would expect for a country where ski racers train on brush mats due to the lack of snowfall. Up to the age of eight he practiced on a “plastic mountain”, as he now called it himself, which raises the Harz to the level of a high mountain. He was 13 when he made his first turns in the snow, and his parents often went to France for skiing holidays. A professional career had long since been out of reach, by all standards in the industry, but what other children brought with them he made up for with “dedication, sacrifice and dedication”, Ryding said five years ago in Kitzbühel. At that time he was second on the World Cup podium for the first time, also on the Ganslernhang, behind Austria’s overrider Marcel Hirscher.
But staying at the top is something different than getting to the top.
At that time, Ryding only employed one serviceman and one trainer (Hirscher worked exclusively for nine men at times); He also suffered from the fact that the British hadn’t promoted alpine sports for years: in 2002, the Scot Alain Baxter first won bronze in the slalom in Salt Lake City and lost again because his nasal spray contained a banned substance. And without medals, British sport dries up very quickly (which only changed four years ago when the Brits finished fifth in the Olympic team event).
Four years ago, Ryding lost its partnership with an Austrian ski resort – because Peter Schröcksnadel intervened
After his respectable success in Kitzbühel in 2017, Ryding no longer had to raise thousands of euros to finance his sporting life. At the time he was promoting the Pyhrn-Priel ski area, the region hoping for a stable influx of tourists from the kingdom thanks to Ryding’s growing popularity (and its proximity to Linz Airport). However, the partnership soon broke up: the ski area gave Ryding notice of everything, the advertising contract and also the privileges to train on the slopes and facilities of the state youth center. “We are very disappointed with this step, but we can’t do anything about it,” said the region’s managing director at the time. yikes
Well, a co-owner of the local mountain railways back then was a certain Peter Schröcksnadel, the great king of the small Alpine kingdom. According to reports, Schröcks Nadel was struck by the fact that Pyhrn-Priel was promoting a major competitor to Austrian skiers in this way. “Schröcks Nadel expels Ryding from his mountain”, these are the headlines that are still online today, unchallenged.
Those who are at the forefront of the World Cup will quickly find new partners in Austria, however, not all the mountains belong to Schröcksnadel (yet). The Obergurgl-Hochgurgl region jumped in gratefully, they remained loyal to Ryding even when things didn’t go well for a while. Ryding switched to a new ski outfitter, then back to his old, usual games at the top of the world. Last winter he gradually benefited from old strengths and new talents in the British team, who challenged their role model in training, according to those close to him. It was still not enough for a World Cup success; Ryding drives as technically elegantly as hardly anyone else, but he didn’t really take the huge risk of the youngsters.
Ryding mixes the risk perfectly, a victory of routine over Sturm und Drang
That’s not necessary in Kitzbühel, where the riders are driven over inclines and waves. “This is by far the hardest slalom slope in the World Cup,” said German Linus Straßer on Saturday, and such a “Schweinsberg” (Straßer) tends to reward those who don’t overdo it. Straßer curbed his aggressiveness a little too much this time, he admitted that the failure in Wengen unsettled him – 14th place. Ryding mixed the risk perfectly, a victory of routine over Sturm und Drang. And now?
In the first interview, Ryding once again emphasized his compatriots’ great love for skiing, and when it comes to après-ski they have always been competitive. In Kitzbühel, there is an even greater challenge in this regard than any slalom slope: there is currently a Corona curfew in the bars from 10 p.m.