Ski, vinatzer second in the Slalom of Kitzbühel: come back 9 positions, beaten only by Noel

Roma – The World Cup approach, and come back Alex Vinatzer. After a complicated season, starting with the number 24 very far from the best, he reassembles nine positions in the second round and stands second in the classic Slalom of Kitzbühel, only 9 cents from the winner, the French Olympic champion Clement Noel. Twenty -five years, Gardense, Vinatzer had not been on the podium from 22 December 2020 to Madonna di Campiglio, third in the slalom won by the Norwegian Kristoffersen more than four years ago. But in the meantime, the blue had risen to another podium: that of the Courchevel 2023 World Cup, with a bronze medal that inserts it in a irided gold register in which they appear Thoeni, Gros, Tomba, Rocca, Moelgg. Kitz for Italy is the first slalom podium since January 16, 2022, when Giuliano Razzoli He came third in Wengen.

Vinatzer: “A dream after a time”

“I pulled the best of me” the words of Vinatzer at the finish. “This second place is beautiful, especially here in Kitzbühel in front of this audience. It has been a dream since he was a child, getting on the podium to Kitz. I think nobody would have expected this podium. It was a really tough period for me too: I had to bring out the desire to fight in every weekend. But I knew I worked a lot with the staff, I knew there were fast sectors: I found myself perfectly with the materials and I did a great test “.

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The first heat closed in 11th place

Accompanied by his fame as a slalomist always on the attack, which struggles to dominate his power with the informa and the error always lurking, Vinatzer has placed eleventh in the first heat, at 86 cents by the Norwegian leader Timon Hauganin a good position to attempt a first positions. With the attitude of all time he went down on the track traced by the Swiss Joris, he risked in some passages without losing rhythm and adherence. Compared to the future winner Noel has always gained at each passage, but the key to his podium race was in the final of heats: Vinatzer found himself unbalanced, he leaned on the queues but catapulted forward without losing speed or roundness in the curve he was drawing. Better at the finish, he waited for the other ten.

Then a second amazing heats

The winner of Wengen Atle Mcgrath came out, the German Strasser, the Austrians Feller and Schwarz, the Swiss Yule and Nef have remained behind him. Noel immediately increased the advantage, but in the second part of the route he lost significantly to close with 9 cents on the blue of the 56 he had at the start. Pinheiro Braathen, third at the end, brought Brazil to the podium of Kitzbühel, but did not stop Alex’s comeback that remained in front of him for 10 cents. The French Amaz made a mistake in the upper part and ended the last one, and the leader Haugan came out of the track leaving Vinatzer second on the podium.

Now head to the World Cup

The blue this year boasts a tenth place in Val d’Isere as the best result in slalom, had come out twice in the first heat, in Wengen he had not even qualified, now he finally managed to fully bring his ability d Attack that still makes it one of the most feared slalomists on the circuit. “I’ve always threw myself a little too much, maybe it’s my nature since I was a child, my family, who knows,” he said at the Courchevel World Championships. Now that another world championship arrives, the second place in Kitzbühel brings him confidence and tells him that he can be attached to everything staying standing. Also on the podium.