"The 3Tre without an audience? Something will change, but the favorite is Noel". Massimo Rinaldi's analysis

The blue sports director is already projected towards the very classic in Campiglio on December 22nd (preceded by 24 hours from the first slalom of CdM in Badia). "Vinatzer is icy, he will not be affected. Too bad for the Covid cases, but the team is fine".

Saturday 19 December 2020 5 minutes reading time

The slalom season will start on Monday 21 December with the return of the race between the narrow poles on the Gran Risa, but the first great classic of the season can only be the 3Tre in Madonna di Campiglio, scheduled for the following day (heats scheduled at 5.45 pm and at 8.45 pm). Speaking to the press office of the Trentino event, the sporting director of the Italian national team, Massimo Rinaldi, has already dived into the night on the Canalone Miramonti. It will be a “historic” first behind closed doors, for the first time of 3Tre, and precisely this aspect, especially in a race under the lights of the spotlights and with a usually very hot atmosphere, could disrupt the cards a bit. “These are the first important slalom races, everything is new for us - explains Rinaldi - We are experiencing a particular situation, we are aware of it, but we cannot change it. Clearly there is the athlete who charges with the fans and who manages, before the start, to concentrate and think only of the race, while some more emotional boys may suffer from a not total ability to manage pressure. I consider the audience part of the sporting spectacle: the problem always lies within the athlete ”. Certainly, Alex Vinatzer, the most shining talent of the Italian slalom, has shown that he has no awe. His approach is always the same, devoted to attack, both in front of the home audience and abroad. “Alex is a cold boy. He is young and still makes some mistakes of inexperience, always out of the desire to overdo it, but he never suffers the context in which he competes. When he puts his nose out of the gate, he only thinks about his race. A great talent that to become a champion must find continuity - Rinaldi thought - The sequences are there, but he must learn to connect better and get to compete in two high-level heats ”. National slalom that will be narrow-gauge already on Monday in Badia, but for the blue ds “the team is doing well overall, despite having had this problem with Sal and Razzoli (positive results at Covid). The other veterans, Gross and Moelgg, are fit as well as the younger Liberator. In the European Cup we have shown that we are in terms of performance, but the World Cup is a whole other story ”. And between Gran Risa (with the slalom that runs almost entirely on the final gently sloping stretch) and the Canalone Miramonti, for Rinaldi “they are almost two different sports, given that the slope of Campiglio is much more severe. I expect a track prepared, as usual, in an impeccable way. Everyone will start with a knife between their teeth: if the weather is favorable, in Campiglio there is a concrete possibility of qualification even with very high numbers. A favorite? I expect surprises, but I say Clément Noel ”.

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