Ryding looks ahead after 'difficult one for me'

Just prior to the British team being announced for the February 2025 Alpine World Championships, Dave Ryding sat down and gave his thoughts on the lead up to his ninth World Championships. Post the race in Wengen, Ryding is one of just three racers to have scored points in every round of the 2024-24 FIS Audi Alpine World Cup.

The Swiss leg of the World Cup Tour is "a difficult one for me," he explained.The tough last fifteen gated at Adelboden in the mist and then the steep rolling course in Wengen are two of the most picturesque venues but also two of the most fearsome slopes.

After the race in Adelboden, Ryding tried to watch his run but "I ended up turning it off as you could not see anything." twenty four hours later and the GS skiers had picture perfect conditions. For Wengen, the speed racers had five postcard days and then the light went flat for the Slalom on the Sunday.

"It is a shame as Adelboden is a special race. I did well when the weather was good," Ryding reminisced. "I have always struggled when it is not. I had a solid first run and knew that I had to attack on the second run and that is what I did. You could not see the ground on the second run and that is what cost me," he explained. Ryding admitted that the effects of hitting a rut that he did not see, cost him dearly and from there to the finish he really struggled.

Ryding has the experience of 129 World Cup starts (124 in slalom) to know how to put disappointments like this behind him.

One of the big positives that has come from this season for Ryding has been his switch to Head. Ryding has been blown away by the support they have given him, given that he was 37 years old when he made the switch. Behind Ryding in his hotel room were five pairs of boots, all differently set up for him that he was testing prior to the race in Wengen.

Ryding is having to learn how the skis react in different conditions and admits that he "doesn't always get it correct." This also has its advantage for him as if something is not working for him, it gives him the incentive to "find a solution. this is added motivation and stimulation," he continued.

Ryding looks a lot happier and solid on his skis this year. This feeling he puts down to the support that Head have given him. Ryding acknowledged that he knew it was a bit of risk for Head taking him on at his age "but the team at Head just went all in like I have never seen before."

This support made Ryding think: "If I had had this support over my whole career, what could have been?"

"I have never had support like this before and this is an added motivation," he continued. "I would love to stick it on the podium and show myself to the world on Head skis that way."

Ryding certainly benefitted from the early discussions with Laurie Taylor but he decided that he also had to go on his own journey regarding his set up. the two racers have different set ups now."I am constantly looking at what he is doing, like I was doing with Billy last year (Major is on Fischer).

Ryding is heading to Saalbach Hinterglemm for his ninth World Championships. He has raced their four times, twice in World Cup Slaloms and twice in the British Championships. every race he has got better position wise. How does he feel heading there this time?

"The main thing you have got to work on is getting in the right head space and the right head space for me is to approach it with no expectations and give it my absolute all. I have had a ninth at the World Championships and the Olympics, I think a good days work would be to better that. A realistic goal is to better that but it has to come from an all or nothing mindset rather than a calculated 'worrying about the result.'

"I want to get into a mindset where I do not care about the result, I just have to go all out, no regrets, all in." he honestly explains.

Ryding wears his heart on his sleeve and just wants to get better. He has never been motivated by just being the best in Britain and it is this advice he would give to some of the younger racers making their major championship debuts.

"I have never been motivated to be the best British skier, I think this is the biggest problem in British skiing. People only worry about who is the best British skier. There was an eight year period where I was the only British World Cup Slalom skier. If I had looked and said I am the best British skier, whoopee, I would not have gone on to have the results I have had," Ryding explained.

"I would have stayed mediocre and stayed in the thirty, probably. My goal has always been 'where am I on the world stage?' I said to Laurie the other week, the biggest problem is they are too focussed on who is the best Brit, not 'oh we have three Brits in the thirty,'

"If I was tenth in a World Cup and was the fifth Brit, I would still be personally very proud of my performance because I was tenth in the world, but it would be epic for the team because we would have five of us in the top ten!" he continued.

Ryding was last beaten on the World Cup the race after his won in 2022, in Schladming. In that race Ryding finished 20th with Billy Major in 18th. it was Major again who was faster in Adelboden.

Discussion then moved to Ryding's thoughts about Saalbach. It has been a hill that he admits he was "shocking there the first time, I was a bit better last year and I hope to do even better this time," he explained.

Ryding is a big fan of racing in Austria he explained. "I have had a lot of my top ten's in Austria (11 out of his 32 top ten results) including three podiums in Kitzbuehel. I really thrive in the atmosphere that the Austrians bring, it is really special. The Swiss are good but there are no fans better than the Austrians."

With this in mind, what are his thoughts on Wengen? "I certainly prefer it across the valley, it is more homely, the Kandahar racer explains smiling. You get to love Wengen though," he added! "Wengen is one of the classics that I have yet to master!"

Ryding leads an exciting British team to the World Championships. What advice does he give to them? "I would say, have your personal goal, be realistic, do your best and approach it in the right way. Approach it in the best way you can. Take it as a learning curve as this is the big stage and then evaluate where you are at against the best in the world.

"I remember doing this in Vancouver for the 2010 Olympics, as I remember giving myself a hell of a kick up the backside if I wanted to be as good as these guys. I took a lot from it, I took a lot of motivation from it and I certainly learnt form it," he continued.

"Go about your business well and have your goals. No one expects them to go there and get top tens. Go there and do your thing and people will appreciate you putting out a good performance for the level that you are at and take it as a learning curve." he explains.

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