Aleksander Aamodt Kilde on the notorious Streif in Kitzbühel
Photo: imago images/Schiffmann
Something has conspired against the organizers of the most spectacular descent in the world, against Kitzbühel, against all of Austria. The pandemic, of course, but all organizers of sporting events are affected by it, almost all of them. In contrast to the week before in Wengen, there are hardly any spectators in Kitzbühel this weekend, and the otherwise great atmosphere at the foot of the Hahnenkamm is missing. The weather also threw up the program – the second descent scheduled for Saturday was already postponed to Sunday due to the expected snowfall. And then there was this Frenchman.
Strictly speaking, there were two and one Norwegian who made sure that the first descent on Friday didn’t happen with at least a little party atmosphere among the almost 1000 guests in the grandstand, who sat there with a mask and distanced themselves. Mathias Mayer was already preparing for the award ceremony at the end of the race when Baise Giezendanner with the high starting number 43 and the third fastest time pushed the Austrian off the podium. The red-white-red enthusiasm had already suffered a bit because first Aleksander Aamodt Kilde and shortly afterwards Giezendanner’s teammate Johan Clarey had been faster than Mayer.
For the Norwegian it was the first victory on the Streif in his career, for the 41-year-old Clarey it was already the third podium finish in the downhill in the noble Tyrolean ski resort. So far, Kitzbühel has been “a bit of my Achilles’ heel,” said Kilde, because he always found it difficult “to be quick here.”
The selectiveness of the Streif, according to the criticism of most athletes after the training rides, has suffered somewhat after a route modification. Those responsible had redesigned the lower part. There were always spectacular and often serious accidents. The athletes now have to put in an additional swing in front of the entrance to the so-called traverse so that they can reach the final section at a slower pace. But in doing so, the character of this key passage was “completely taken away,” says Josef Ferstl. »You used to see: who has the balls and drives the traverse in a crouch, or who becomes a little more passive? And now there is only one line to drive, «says the German downhill skier.
The rides in the final section are therefore not quite as spectacular. In addition, the question, says Ferstl, is “whether it will do anything”, because “afterwards we will build up speed again towards the target jump”. In fact, the best were there on Friday at almost 140 kilometers per hour, so hardly slower than in previous years.
Sieger Kilde, on the other hand, quickly came to terms with the new route profile and concentrated on his goal of finally conquering the Streif. The Norwegian has already won almost all the classics of the scene: Beaver Creek, Val Gardena, last week Wengen – and now finally Kitzbühel. “It’s one of the biggest races,” he said. An even bigger one would probably only be the one at the Olympics, or better: the two fastest races. He is one of the top favorites for gold in Beijing in both downhill and super-G.
The closest came from the German team to the fastest one who was only there as a guest. Thomas Dreßen, the Streif winner of 2018, chatted at length with the new Kitzbühel winner and finally patted him on the back appreciatively. Later, the convalescent Dreßen, who completed a few off-piste training runs in Kitzbühel, also congratulated Giezendanner heartily.
He had to encourage his own colleagues. In their search for the right skiing feeling, which they suddenly lost in Wengen, the German downhill skiers made only a very small step two weeks before the Olympic Games. Dominik Schwaiger’s 14th place can at best be described as a mini ray of hope in view of the no longer so small demands. Also that Andreas Sander seems to have stabilized a little after his 41st place in Switzerland. “It was a small step forward,” said Cortina d’Ampezzo’s World Cup runner-up last year after rank 23 on Friday, “but unfortunately too small.” Romed Baumann thought his skiing wasn’t “actually that bad «, but the early start number after the snowfall in the morning. So it was only enough for 25th place. And Josef Ferstl managed the Streif after his fall in the first training session with a bit too much respect and missed out on the World Cup points as 33rd. “We still have a second chance on Sunday,” said Baumann. If the weather cooperates.
