Serious crash overshadows icy Stelvio descent
Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin wins the spectacular World Cup downhill in Bormio. But the serious crash of overall leader Marco Schwarz leaves everyone in shock. The Austrian had to be taken away by rescue helicopter.
Andreas Sander applauded appreciatively when Cyprien Sarrazin raced across the finish line of the merciless Stelvio in Bormio a few minutes after him. What the German, who had started in first place, didn't know at the time was that the Frenchman's perfect race in a spectacular descent, which was overshadowed by the major crash of Austrian Marco Schwarz, was enough to win in the end. Sander, on the other hand, was relegated to 19th place.
"I felt great from the first gate," said Sarrazin, who had won a parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia in 2016, but had only finished in the top ten three times in the supreme discipline. Only Marco Odermatt came close to the surprise winner on the icy Rüttel piste: the double world champion from Switzerland missed out on his first downhill victory in the World Cup by 0.09 seconds.
There were some large gaps behind Sarrazin and Odermatt. Cameron Alexander from Canada came third, but the World Championship bronze medallist was already 1.23 seconds behind first place. Sander was a massive 2.91 seconds behind the winner. The 2021 World Championship silver medallist was nevertheless smiling - mainly because he is still struggling with the after-effects of a serious crash in Val Gardena/Gröden two weeks ago. "I'm not that unhappy," he said on ARD.
Black crash weighs on the mind
Alongside Romed Baumann, co-favorite Aleksander Aamodt Kilde was also unable to conquer the traditionally challenging ice track not far from the Stelvio Pass: He stopped his run because a stone had damaged an edge. But Schwarz had the worst of it: the overall World Cup leader lost control on a right-hand turn, crashed into the safety net and apparently injured his right leg. A helicopter flew him out.
Bad luck for Sander and the German team, who were competing without Thomas Dreßen, who was ill: as the race progressed, visibility on the usually pitch-black Stelvio got better and better, so the times of competitors who started late got better. Simon Jocher was the second-best German in 21st place, while Josef Ferstl dropped out of the points in 39th.
Sander still had the criticism of DSV sports director Wolfgang Maier in his ear, who had accused his downhill skiers of being too passive after the sobering German results in Val Gardena/Gröden: "They are called racers and not beautiful skiers." That was "completely okay", emphasized Sander. Baumann was "super motivated" on the piste, but had to take off just a few seconds after the start.
Schwarz's crash put the competitors in a bad mood. Nevertheless, there was also praise for the winner, who had last stood on the podium in a giant slalom in Alta Badia four years ago - in Val Gardena/Gröden he had achieved his best result to date in a downhill with fourth place. "I haven't seen such a good run in Bormio so often," emphasized Kilde, who finished second in the World Championships, "it was completely clean from top to bottom. Odermatt too: incredible."
Read also:
- NFL kicker out injured, then something unbelievable happens!
- Taylor Swift talks about love for her NFL star
- Crazy victory in the NFL top game
- NFL star breaks referee's leg
In light of Schwarz's serious crash, the importance of safety in alpine skiing, particularly during Winter sports, was further emphasized. Despite the challenging conditions and his own recent crash in Val Gardena/Gröden, Sander showed resilience and continued participating in alpine skiing competitions.
Source: www.ntv.de
