Dave Ryding has come a long way this season: Some great World Cup results have been witnessed yet there have also been moments that have been millimetres away from even greater results. Coming into the final regular season World Cup Slalom, Ryding was in touching distance of making the World Cup Finals in Meribel next week. Six points separated him from being in the top twenty five finishers from the World Cup races this season. The pressure was on. ...
Ryding is a racer that thrives on the big race days and despite a disappointing World Championships that saw him straddle early on the first run, it is these days that have seen him perform his best results. Most racers are hard on themselves as they look to better themselves and get the most out of a race. Ryding is no different.
With the demise of Naoki Yuasa a few racers before him, the equation got a little easier. The Japanese racer was sitting in 25th spot and this made it easier for Ryding in the race for the golden ticket to Meribel.
Since the World Championships Ryding has been racing on the Europa Cup and FIS races and has put him in a great position to recapture the Europa Cup title again. Ryding leads the series and could recapture the Europa Cup title with a strong performance. Europa Cup is one thing but Ryding was all focused on making the cut for the second run and then challenging for the World Cup Finals.
It is a fine line between success and failure and pushing too much. The conditions were to the naked eye looking good yet the racers were describing a layer of spring snow above the hard snow that lay below. It was hard to make the ski carve Henrik Kristoffersen explained.
Across the top of the course, Ryding was not as quick as he could have been. Over a second out in an area that he would normally have been expected to be challenging in and Ryding was up against it. "I was not as good as I should have been," Ryding explained after his run.
Having been so close to making the World Cup Finals and yet denied at the last, Ryding was down. Having dropped to a start number of 43, the route back into the top 30 will be hard but he will do his best to lower the FIS points to get closer to the starting point of 30. World Cup points are there on the board, he knows that he can do and he will be back on the start list again next year.
Season 2014 - 15 on the World Cup is over for him, recapturing his Europa Cup title is next up and then he needs to search for the races that will give him a great chance of lowering his FIS points.
Results from the first run