Dave Ryding
Ski sensation in Kitzbühel: For the first time a Brit wins a World Cup race
Briton Dave Ryding celebrates with the trophy on the podium in the men’s slalom competition of the FIS Ski World Cup in Kitzbühel
© Johann Groder / APA / AFP
That’s never happened before: For the first time a Briton has won a race in the Ski World Cup. In the slalom sensation in Kitzbühel, however, veteran Dave Ryding benefited from a few failures in the field.
Great Britain and skiing? The only thing that comes to mind quickly is “Eddie, the Eagle”, the ski jumper Michael Edwards, for whom being at the Olympics was everything. But now you have to remember a second name: Dave Ryding. The 35-year-old veteran is the first Briton to have won a World Cup race.
The ski sensation happened at the World Cup slalom in Kitzbühel. Ryding is by no means unknown in the ski circus. In 2017 and 2019 he did finish among the top ten in the overall slalom ranking, and he made it onto the podium three times in World Cup races. But a World Cup victory was always out of reach.
Advantage Ryding: First to third place drop out
Not so in Kitzbuehel. In front of 1000 spectators, the man from Corley in Lancashire put on a strong race, beating Norway’s Lucas Braathen by 0.38 seconds and his compatriot Henrik Kristoffersen by 0.65.
But Ryding’s historic victory also had a bit of luck in it – at least from the Briton’s point of view. With Norway’s world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, the Frenchman Clément Noël and the Italian Alex Vinatzer, the first through third place fell out one after the other. In the end, that shouldn’t have mattered to the British. In addition to the trophy, Ryding was presented with a check for 100,000.
“I never stopped fighting,” Ryding said, according to the Austrian newspaper “Der Standard”. “The win means the world to me. My team never stopped believing in me and pushing me. More than I ever wanted.”
German ski racer Linus Straßer only takes 14th place
The legendary Ganslernhang in Kitzbühel, on the other hand, is not a good place for the German ski racer Linus Straßer. “You pig mountain!” he shouted loudly through the target area. Even in the slalom classic on Saturday, the man from Munich did not get past 14th place. After all, after three zero numbers in the previous four goal runs of the season, he once again scored points.
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“The line between attacking and retiring is extremely narrow,” said Straßer about the famous slope in Tyrol, which with its many transitions “is so difficult to drive because you can’t build a rhythm,” explained the 29-year-old on ARD.
Straßer’s teammate Anton Tremmel benefited from the many failures and got his first World Cup points of the winter in 17th place. David Ketterer as 38th as well as Julian Rauchfuss, Alexander Schmid and Fabian Himmelsbach, who were all eliminated, were not in the final. There is another descent in Kitzbühel on Sunday. The last slalom run before the Winter Olympics in Beijing (February 4th to 20th) will take place in Schladming next Tuesday.
sources: “The standard”; dpa
