Alpine Skiingmen's world cup
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The cards at the next men's World Cup: anything can happen after the dominator's retirement, but some hierarchies seem clear.
Monday 9 September 2019 17 minutes reading time
The farewell to the competitive spirit of Marcel Hirscher clearly opens up a thousand scenarios in the fight against the crystal ball for the 2019/2020 season which, even more so in a vintage with no major events such as the World Cup and the Olympics, will be the goal of many champions of the white circus.
We chose 10 names, for an ideal "5 + 5" in a grid that we divide between five credible candidates for the overall and five other possible entries at least for the final podium.
FIRST BAND
1.Henrik Kristoffersen: it is true, he was not the first Hirscher pursuer in the last edition of the Cup, finishing in 3rd place with a hundred points behind Pinturault. The 2018/19 vintage, however, was certainly not the best for the continuity of the Norwegian goblin, who in the three previous seasons, on the other hand, made very little mistakes, finishing 2nd in both 2016 and 2018, in addition to the third place in 2017. From to understand what his reaction will be to the absence of the eternal rival, for him a very important reference, but in the last 24 months also a psychological conditioning after so many defeats. In slalom the competition has increased, starting from the phenomenal Noel, in giant there could be a little more space and we'll see if we will dedicate, as promised, to some super-g and above all to a couple of combined that could be decisive. For us, it remains the first favorite for the coppone.
2. Alexis Pinturault: at 28, he seems to have reached full psycho-physical maturity, it is no coincidence that last year he got the first individual title at the level of great events (world gold combined), but above all the best placement career overall, with 2nd place 400 points behind King Hirscher.
He still has to win a specialty cup, outside of those brought home in combination, but now he finally gives the feeling of being able to win with continuity in giant and, above all, having sacrificed the versatility he has found enamel in slalom, constantly in top five . This will in fact be the key to fighting with Kristoffersen and the others, considering that there will be as many as 12 races among the rapid gates. The Courchevel boy has in the list, in addition to the 2nd place of 2019, the 6th and 4th placement in the Cup in 2018 and 2017, and three placings in 3rd place from 2014 to 2016.
3. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde: he has disappointed and not a little in the last two seasons, as many indicated him as the multipurpose able to fight at least for the final podium. With the return to the old material (Atomic) he could find the feeling above all with "his" super-g, even if considered the limits in giant, for the 27 year old Scandinavian the downhill performance will be decisive, where the competition however is ruthless.
In the quiver, AAK would have five specialties (downhill, super-g, giant, combined and parallel), but will have to manage the calendar well to make the most out of speed and try to approach technical racing specialists like Pinturault and Kristoffersen, from whom suffered a gap of 500 and 400 points respectively at the end of last season, which ended in 8th place. His best finish in the overall remains the 7th obtained both in 2015/16, the year of the explosion with victory of the crystal ball in super-g, and in 2016/17. The time has come to make the qualitative leap, the boy has the potential.
4.Dominik Paris: the extraordinary performance offered in the past season, with seven successes, a specialty cup and the world super-g title, is far from impossible to repeat for "Domme", currently the strongest sprinter at world.
If we talk about chances to win the general World Cup, it is natural that there are not many despite the absence of Hirscher: the calendar certainly does not help him, with 18 fast races (10 descents and 8 super-g) against 21 techniques between the 12 slaloms planned and the 9 giants, but the 950 points obtained in 2018/19 (520 downhill, 430 in SG) must be the starting point for trying to reach 1200, to be overcome in a year with so many races (45 in total) to hope at least on the overall podium, after the 4th place grabbed a few months ago.
Its combined qualities can be decisive, considering also the new regulation with super-g heats before the slalom and starting in ... pole position, given that the 300 points involved in the specialty that the FIS is trying to raise, will be far from trivial in the race for the World Cup.
5. Marco Schwarz: without Bansko's injury, with the collapse of his left knee in the combined action of last February 22, perhaps he would have even been the first favorite to inherit the role of compatriot Hirscher.
Yes, because "Blacky" demonstrated a technical completeness last year, and a continuity also on a physical level throughout the season, surprising for a '95 class that was literally taking flight. Difficult to see it in Solden, despite having put the skis back on already in August, surely there will instead be Levi for the first slalom, but it is clear that immediately find the performance shown in the year ended for him with the injury to the Crusader , will be very difficult in the arc of more specialties. Schwarz, who finished in 9th place with 560 points despite skipping the last month of races, is the future ruler of a specialty like the combined and is very competitive even in parallel, assuming that we are talking about one of the five best slalomists in circulation and that in giant, just think of the clamorous 7th place of Adelboden with bib 67, could soon arrive up there. There are those who want to push it towards speed, but in the post-injury vintage it certainly won't be. And 'a potential winner of the general, very difficult to fight already for that 2019/2020.
SECOND BAND
6.Clement Noel: is the slalomist of the present and the future, able to win at Wengen, Kitzbuehel and the finals at 21 years. It is clear, only with 12 specialty races and the three parallels available, one specialty among others in which he has potential as a winner in every context (more difficult in the parallel giant in Alta Badia), he will not be able to fight immediately for the general, probably aiming at the slalom cup. Last year he finished 11th with 551 points to the active, with two slalom less than those expected in the season just around the corner; will have to gradually widen the horizon to the giant to try, but has plenty of time to grow and we do not exclude that a final top 5 is already within its reach.
7. Vincent Kriechmayr: could follow a path similar to that of Dominik Paris, if we think that lately it has been practically the shadow of the blue giant. Super-downhill rider, at 28 (to be completed on 1 October) could definitely establish himself as a serial winner, but not able to play the cup without a discreet performance at least in giant (few appearances and no particular results), although he does not miss instead a good quality combined. Last year he finished 5th with 739 points, equally divided between descent and super-g, but he can certainly aim to contend with the various Paris and Feuz the specialty cups in speed.
8. Marco Odermatt: he is the possible big surprise, even in the short term. The Swiss class '97 is the true multi-purpose of the future, already capable of rising steadily on the podium in the giant, in its first year in the World Cup, but with flashes of the highest level in super-g and the courage and quality for throw yourself into all the descents of the circuit. It is there that he will have to build a future that promises to be radiant: he finished in 24th place, with 334 points in the active, in the last World Cup, but in this case the numbers count very little. It can at least double the figures in giant (245 points in 2018/19) and go much further in speed, not to mention that even in combination it can already be competitive for the top. It should not be underestimated at all ...
9.Kjetil Jansrud: the good train to bring home the dream cup may already be past, especially in that 2014/15 vintage when the champion in charge of descent disputed Hirscher's crystal ball to the finals of Meribel, to then repeat itself in 2nd place in 2016/17, but with a huge gap from the Salzburg club.
He is back from his worst year as Cup performance in the last ten seasons, clearly saved by the world title: 13th with 537 points, Jansrud will be the captain of a speed team without a leader like Svindal, but will have a competition of the highest quality in its specialties. Giving up the giant by now, he can play it with good placings both in combined and in parallel: getting on the podium of the overall as in the past is an achievable goal.
10.Beat Feuz: Paris's great rival in the race for the downhill World Cup, he no longer seems able to fight for the overall as it did in the year of his explosion, right in the season of Hirscher's first triumph ( 2011/12), which surpassed the Swiss only in the giant of the finals. Knee problems have recommended the good beat to bet everything on downhill and super-g, with exceptional results in the discipline of speed and a lower performance instead in SG, at least in the last vintage. Here, without participating in parallels and combined, one cannot think of inserting it into the struggle for the final victory, even if the 722 points collected in the 2018/19 vintage, with its 6th final place, still put him as a man to follow.
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