The new slalom course by Theolier and Guadagnini? A light from Vinatzer, one expects Della Mea, while the veterans ...

Focus on the specialty in which Italy struggles most: Levi has more shadows than lights, but January will be the key month.

Monday 25 November 2019 8 minutes reading time

My slalom, how much patience it takes with you ... For the Italian national team, both for men and women, it has been the most indigestible specialty for over two seasons, the only one in which, from 2017/18 onwards, podiums have not arrived in the World Cup. The last one is the 2nd place obtained by Stefano Gross, in March 2017 in Kranjska Gora. It is no coincidence that many technicians have changed (in reality the team that has most revolutionized the staff is that of the male giant), with the new course now entrusted to high quality coaches such as Jacques Theolier, returned to the men's leadership, and Matteo Guadagnini who has taken on the task of reviving the female group. On the occasion of the specialty opening in Levi, it was objectively more the shadows than the lights, even if the male sector took home a 10th and a 12th place with the eternal Manny Moelgg and with the new that advances, an Alex Vinatzer who showed clear improvements and is ready, after having achieved the best result of his young career (the Gardena is only 20 years old, two less than Noel ...), to start fighting constantly for the top ten. Thinking of the very long season that awaits us among the rapid gates, given that there will be 12 World Cup slaloms planned, there will be other cards to play and there are two, in particular, veterans who will still have some important cartridges to shoot. We are talking about Stefano Gross and Giuliano Razzoli, who for different reasons did not do well for Levi: the Fassano, who got into the 1st heat when he was out of the games for the qualification, was back after the Crusader operation and he did not have the ski days necessary to compete at these levels. The Reggio specialist, on the other hand, had already pulled himself out of the fray, defining his non-optimal form; want because the "Rocket" has always struggled to get into condition (not surprisingly, the best result in Levi is an anonymous 12th place), either because the viewfinder is focused on that month of January that, in the absence of major events February will be the heart of the season for the slalomists. Six races within twenty-four days, from Zagreb (January 5) to Schladming (January 28), with all the great classics that are so popular with the Olympian and the same Gross, that we expect to find the condition just in time for that period . And then there are, from the group that was part of the expedition to Finland, athletes who showed potential as early 30s as Simon Maurberger, author of a serious mistake that took away a second race by now certain, a Tommy Sala (pictured) positive to return and a couple of tenths from qualification, Bacher, Liberatore and Ricky Tonetti, excluded as Razzoli for only 8 cents. The situation among women is most worrying: having said that even at a quantitative level, the athletes "from the World Cup" are few, in this case the veteran of the group is only one and in Levi, although starting in the first group, he did not hit the pass which, for someone like Irene Curtoni, should be something almost taken for granted (net of particular errors, which in this case were not there). The Valtellina has had a hitch in training in October with a bad fall and was certainly not at the top, but will soon have to give a signal and guide the young comrades who, from Lapland, have brought home some experience. Of course, Martina Peterlini took the first points in the World Cup (5) and it is a hope that we had already noticed last season, but she disappointed Lara Della Mea, more than 5 seconds behind Vlhova in the 1st round and far from the level shown several times in the year of the explosion; it is true, Guadagnini had warned of the difficulties encountered by Tarvisio in terms of rhythm to be found during the preparation, but to Levi the qualification was considered almost obligatory for the 20 year old Friulian, ended instead far from the objective. They tried Gulli, Rossetti and Midali, with no luck; the first two will remain in Scandinavia to begin the adventure in the European Cup, the Bergamo will instead fly to Killington to participate in the second World Cup slalom, where Italy will line up five athletes (except for changes of the last hour ), with Curtoni, Della Mea, Peterlini and a Federica Brignone at his first season in the discipline. The Valle d'Aosta is the third blue in WCSL and very few of the races it disputes, having to take care of its versatility: this already says a lot about the situation of the Italian women's slalom.

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