Several lashes behind let Dreßen cheer
Next eyelash race in Val Gardena/Gröden: Of the Germans, only Thomas Dreßen is satisfied afterwards. After a "wake-up call" in the first downhill of the year, the 30-year-old is happy about any progress. The rest of the Germans landed in a distant second place.
Andreas Sander angrily banged his ski pole against a crash cushion in the finish area, Romed Baumann glared at the scoreboard, while Thomas Dreßen raised his left fist in delight. But as different as their reactions were, in the end the German ski racers had one thing in common in the first super-G of the winter: they were far, far away from the podium, none of them finished in the top 15 in the next hundredth of a second thriller on the Saslong.
In Vincent Kriechmayr's narrow victory ahead of Daniel Hemetsberger (+0.02 seconds/both Austria), Dreßen was the best German starter - and he was satisfied with 18th place, 0.48 seconds behind in a very easy course. "That was good for me," said the winner of the legendary Streif downhill in 2018, "because I saw that I haven't completely forgotten how to ski: I haven't completely forgotten how to ski, I can still ski." The day before in the first downhill in Val Gardena/Gröden, he had only finished 41st because he didn't think he could do anything. Dreßen wants to fight his way back to the top of the alpine ski circuit this season after several health setbacks.
Sander still struggling with training crash
It was a "wake-up call", said head coach Christian Schwaiger about Dreßen's run on Thursday. The reaction? "There were," said Dreßen, "still little things that weren't one hundred percent." But if he deals with it the way he did in the super-G and doesn't "completely lose confidence, then it will be fine". With the self-confidence he has now gained, he will "find it easier" in the second downhill on the Saslong on Saturday.
Of course, Val Gardena/Gröden will be Val Gardena/Gröden again on Saturday, which means that nobody can feel confident about their position as soon as the sun peeks out from behind the Sassolungo/Langkofel. Dreßen was also pushed back from eleventh place by late starters. Only Simon Jocher (20th) came close to him, while Romed Baumann (28th), Josef Ferstl (46th) and Andreas Sander (51st) were far or very far behind. Sander was clearly still suffering from the after-effects of a training crash on Tuesday.
Remarkable in Val Gardena/Gröden were the extremely close time gaps. The first 33 racers in the final ranking were within one second of each other. This was partly due to the fact that the course was very easy, "the easiest super-G I've ever skied", as high-flyer Marco Odermatt emphasized. In the end, the Swiss finished third: 0.03 seconds behind winner Kriechmayr.
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After a challenging first downhill, Dreßen aims to improve his performance in alpine skiing at the next event in Val Gardena/Gröden. Despite finishing 18th in the super-G, Dreßen is optimistic about his ability to regain his form and climb back up the alpine ski circuit.
In preparation for the next downhill in Val Gardena/Gröden, Dreßen is determined to address the remaining issues that hindered his performance in the super-G, ensuring he maintains his self-confidence and produces his best alpine skiing performance.
Source: www.ntv.de
