Dave Ryding was in a positive frame of mind as he left the finish area after his first run in Madonna di Campiglio. A nod of the head and a clenched fist as he saw he had come down into 8th place were clear indications that he was in a much happier frame with what he had achieved. Daniel Yule leads after the first run from Henrik Kristoffersen with Andre Myhrer in third and Alexander Khoroshilov back to his stunning best in fourth just ahead of Sebastian Foss-Solevag.
Madonna had good memories for Ryding having finished fourth and sixth here in the last two races. Another performance in that mould would be very welcome for Ryding. From a four hundredths of of a second advantage over Yule at the top flat split, Ryding admitted that he wanted to "keep it solid" as he came down the steep "and keep up the tempo. I had a reasonable run," he added.
Ryding is a second off the lead after the first run and with the top thirty racers all within 1.65 seconds, the standard of racing is extremely high. "The relief after Zagreb when you are one and a half out, is there," Ryding continued.
Following his run, Ryding was quick out the finish area as he likes to get away and relax. He was onto the exercise bike to cool down and watch teammate Laurie Taylor come down.
For Taylor, while he had good splits, the result was not as good as he came down into 47th and ended up in 52nd and out of the qualification spots. Having missed out on the race in Zagreb to go and chase Europa Cup points in Vaujany, Taylor ended a run of DNF's that went all the way back to last season as he finished 25th in the second of the two races. For Taylor the aim is to score Europa Cup points this season and with this improve his FIS points so that he can get back up the start list for World Cup races. The highest racer to make the second run had bib 57, Taylor started 62.
For Taylor the goal of making the second run and the promise of Dave Ryding shaving his long locks off, is still in the future. A cancer charity will get his locks when he makes the second run.
Ryding will start the second run 18th (13th fastest) and will be revved up to try and match last years performance.
Second start list
Watch Ryding's first run (courtesy of Eurosport Twitter)
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