In Lech / Zuers two parallels with many absences, but Gut-Behrami and Pinturault are looking for heavy points for the cup

The women's race on Saturday, the men's race on Sunday with the holder of the crystal ball who hopes for "a fair race like the one in 2020, not as seen at the World Championships".

Friday 12 November 2021 4 minutes reading time

It will be the weekend of the many absences, either because the calendar does not help with the need for many athletes to prepare overseas for the first speed races, or for a very specific choice of many big names who, in the parallel of Lech / Zuers, see more you risk that you will benefit in a season that has just begun, also because it is the only specialty event for the 2021/22 World Cup. In any case, tomorrow for the women's competition there will be no shortage of themes of interest, with the two specialty world champions in charge, Marta Bassino and Katharina Liensberger, competing with the goal of the maximum result, all the more so for the Austrian who will practically run at home, she is a native of Vorarlberg. And then there will be Lara Gut-Behrami, who could jump to the top of the overall cup standings after the second place in Soelden and considering the renunciation of Shiffrin and Vlhova: the Ticino needs heavy points, also because her presence at the next giant of Killington is at risk, due to the well-known situation linked to vaccination (to which she underwent, but with timelines that would probably exclude her from entering the United States for the race on November 27th, even if it is good to wait for official news in merit). On Sunday, however, it will be time for the men's parallel and in this case the winner of the first edition of the race at the Flexen Arena, Alexis Pinturault, will present himself at the starting gate. The holder of the absolute crystal ball, as well as Gut-Behrami, looks for points and then defends himself instead in the subsequent speed triptychs between Lake Louise and Beaver Creek, where above all the three super-gs will be at the start. "For a specialist in technical disciplines, participating in Lech / Zuers is almost an obligation - explained the champion from Courchevel to" Ski Chrono "- Expectations cannot be very high, given that in this race the surprises are on the order of day. Absences? They surprise me up to a certain point, last year I myself did not play the parallel of the World Cup, which we have all seen to be the most grotesque in history. I hope that this is not the case in Lech, on the contrary that it represents a fair challenge like 12 months ago ”.

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