BORMIO. After the very short Christmas break, the competitions of ski world cup they will resume tomorrow, December 28th, in Bormio with one free male from chills, while the women are in Austria, in Lienz, for one giant slalom that will not see the leader of the standings, Mikaela Shiffrin, forced into the pits by the covid, on the track.
Dominik Paris and companions tested again today the 3,270 meters of the Stelvio, which seem to never end, but above all they are exhausting. The track does not give a moment’s respite and you always have to stay on the attack if you aim for victory.
The result is liters of lactic acid in the muscles and legs that become logs causing you to fall even after the finish line when athletes tend to relax.
The Stelvio will host a downhill and two super-Gs from tomorrow to Thursday.
The South Tyrolean Paris has already managed to tame it, winning six times and he is therefore the favorite even if in the tests he only tried to probe the most difficult passages to save precious energy given the three races that will involve him.
“In the last test I tried the upper part a bit, finding some holes on which I did not feel very well” – said the South Tyrolean – but I think I have taken the measures well: tomorrow you have to risk and put everything on the track . There is a nice frozen snow in the upper part, in the lower part it changes but in general it is a nice moving track. On the long final stretch towards the finish it is how to play poker: if you find the right line you can be very fast otherwise you risk losing a lot “.
So we just have to wait, knowing that Italy can also count on a Christof Innerhofer, which in turn has already won on the Stelvio, on Matteo Marsaglia and Mattia Casse.
In Lienz, tomorrow and the day after women on the track for a giant and a slalom, all without an audience due to covid. During the usual pre-race checks, Shiffrin was found positive and quarantined right in Lienz. For her, no races and therefore no new points in the general classification – where she leads with 750 – leaving more space for her rivals starting from Sofia Goggia which has 635. Italy focuses mainly on the giant with Marta Bassino, Sofia Goggia e Federica Brignone.
“The podium in Courchevel gives me a little confidence. Lienz – said Bassino – is a track that I really like, where I was on the podium two years ago” “It’s a shame for Courchevel, but you don’t live in the past – the words from Goggia, who did not collect points in France – and I think there is skiing in this discipline and it is only a matter of time to put the pieces together. ”
Brignone is also very confident: “Lienz is always a very beautiful stage, a very well prepared giant: it’s a pity for the absence of the public. In Courchevel I was unable to express myself, but I’m skiing well, I have the right times and I hope to be able to give my best “.