On Tuesday, the first downhill training run in Val Gardena marked the official start of the 58th Saslong Classic. Exceptional talent Marco Odermatt (Switzerland) immediately confirmed his role as the favorite, setting the fastest time by a wide margin.
Odermatt, the winner of last year’s Val Gardena downhill classic, delivered a flawless run and distanced himself from the competition by more than seven tenths of a second. With his first training run, the Swiss skier made it crystal clear: once again this year, the road to victory on the Saslong leads through him.
Behind Odermatt, Daniel Hemetsberger was the fastest of the rest of the field. The Austrian finished 0.72 seconds behind the fastest time in training. Local favorite Dominik Paris, who has a victory to his name at the foot of the Langkofel, also performed strongly and rounded out the top three (+0.78).
Large Time Gaps Characterize the Training Run
Apart from Hemetsberger and Paris, only two other athletes managed to keep their deficit below one second: Switzerland’s Alexis Monney (4th, +0.82) and Val Gardena specialist Ryan Cochran-Siegle of the USA (5th, +0.91). Overall, the first training run was characterized by large time gaps, with Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr already more than two seconds behind Odermatt in eleventh place.
From a South Tyrolean perspective, not only Paris but also Florian Schieder impressed with a solid training run. The Kastelruth native finished twelfth, 2.09 seconds behind the leader. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde also delivered a strong performance on his return to Val Gardena. The five-time Saslong winner, who missed last season due to injury, placed 16th—two years after his last appearance in Val Gardena.
Paris, who finished the training session in third place, described the conditions as challenging but familiar: “The slope is basically the same as always—it’s no secret that these conditions don’t necessarily suit me. But I try to adapt and ski well even in these situations.”
According to Paris, the upper section proved particularly demanding. “Visibility wasn’t easy, there were a lot of bumps, and I got knocked around twice. The fact that several forerunners crashed naturally created a certain level of uncertainty. Overall, though, the slope is very nice, and I’m happy with my run.”
The first training session did not go entirely smoothly for Schieder either. “It wasn’t easy today, especially when you hear at the start that some of the forerunners didn’t make it to the finish,” said the Kastelruth native. “It was snowing heavily at the top and visibility was sketchy. But the skiing itself went better than expected.” Schieder ultimately finished twelfth.
In the finish area, several athletes engaged in in-depth discussions about the conditions on the course, including Paris and Marco Odermatt, who set the fastest time in training. One key topic was the Camel Humps. “We athletes discussed it at the finish because we’re currently having trouble clearing the third jump at the Camel Humps,” Paris explained. “There are still unanswered questions about the approach and speed. We need a solution that works for everyone, but I’m confident the situation will be clarified by the next training session.”
Schieder also sees room for improvement at the Camel Humps. “There’s definitely still some fine-tuning to be done there. Once those details are addressed, we can have another good training session tomorrow.”
Picture credit SASLONG CLASSIC CLUB