Schladming: Marco Odermatt becomes a party crasher in the giant slalom – the Swiss manage to catch up

Feller started the second round with a lead of 0.98 seconds over the Swiss dominator, but was still denied the fifth World Cup victory of his career.

“You dog!” shouted local hero Manuel Feller to the Swiss at the finish. For Odermatt it was the eighth victory and the 22nd podium place in a row in his specialist discipline. The Slovenian Zan Kranjec completed the podium (+0.29).

Alexander Schmid fell out of the top 10 after a promising seventh place in round one (11th/+1.54).

The parallel world champion was the only DSV athlete in the points. Fabian Gratz, Anton Grammel, Jonas Stockinger and Stefan Luitz missed the decision.

“I knew that without the mistake in the first run I would have been in first place,” Odermatt said in the official winner’s interview after the race. “That’s why I didn’t try anything special.”

The 26-year-old’s focus was more on his technique and line; the Swiss wanted to avoid unnecessary risks. “The tactic wasn’t to go on a full attack, but to deliver a clean ride. I managed that and I’m very happy.”