Departure to Kitzbühel – Sarazin wins over Cheddar and Odermatt

Marco Odermatt is also on the verge of a podium finish on the first descent in Kitzbühel. Nidwaldner is third in the provisional classification.

Ciprian Sarrazin, who was once again impressive, and surprising Florian Scheider were quicker than Odermatt. The Frenchman leads the provisional classification by 29 hundredths over the Italian.

Odermatt already knew in the end that he could not achieve a perfect flight on the first landing on the Streif.Image: Cornerstone

Odermatt, who lost 34 hundredths in Sarrazin, did not complete the journey as expected. He should not be fooled by his own assessment so soon after swinging at the end. The Swiss national said he knew relatively quickly that winning would not be enough.

In the fight for the podium, luck had been on Odermatt's side until then. American Ryan Cochran Siegel is only a hundredth behind him.

The second best Swiss is Justin Morisier in eighth place, and for the late speed rider from Valais, this would be the third best classification in the World Cup downhill.

Sarrazin continues his rise in the fast majors with a likely win. The Frenchman, who only competed in the World Cup downhill race for the first time a year ago, had already won the classic race in Bormio and the Super-G in Wengen. He also came second behind Odermatt in two downhills on the Lauberhorn.

Sarrazin will be the first Frenchman in 26 years to win a World Cup on the Streif downhill. At that time, Luc Alphand had won the last of his three victories in Kitzbühel.

Cheddar has already shown twelve months ago that he feels comfortable in Streif. With the 43rd start, he also moved up to second place behind Austrian Vincent Krechmeier. Until Friday, this was his only World Cup podium finish.

Kriechmeier once again became the current top-ranked Austrian. However, with a seventh-place finish, they were unable to improve to the extent that their country had secretly hoped for. Ski Austria's downhill skiers are still waiting for their first podium finish after the sixth race of this World Cup season.