Alpine skiing
Slalom ace Straßer is once again on the World Cup podium in Aspen
Linus Straßer raced to second place in the slalom in Aspen. photo
© Robert F. Bukaty/AP/dpa
Linus Straßer is still in top form at the end of the slalom season. In the USA he races onto the podium again. He still has a chance – at least theoretically – of a big award.
The ski racer from Munich was only beaten by Loic Meillard from Switzerland by 0.89 seconds. The Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen came third (+1.17).
Thanks to a strong second run, Straßer moved almost all the way up from sixth place. Last Sunday, Straßer finished third on the first North American weekend in Palisades Tahoe.
“I noticed from the first few goals that the material worked well and I got into the rhythm very well,” said Straßer in Aspen. “I found the places where I really needed to step on the accelerator pedal.”
Chance of crystal still there
Thanks to the podium success, the athlete from TSV 1860 Munich also maintained his theoretical chances of winning the Discipline World Cup. Before the last two slaloms of the season, Straßer is 169 points behind the leading Austrian Manuel Feller, who finished fifth. The next slalom is next Sunday in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia), followed by the World Cup final in Saalbach-Hinterglemm (Austria).
The race in the US luxury ski resort was still in doubt until shortly before the start after there was heavy fresh snow on Sunday night. The program was then pushed back by an hour so that the organizers managed to get the slopes ready for racing in time.
Leading Frenchman is eliminated
In the first run, Straßer was almost one and a half seconds behind the Frenchman Clement Noel, who later retired as the leader in the decisive round. After his two victories in Kitzbühel and Schladming and third place most recently in Palisades, Straßer made it to the podium for the fourth time this winter. He had never achieved this before in his career.