Odermatt back on top; Radamus 10th in Alta Badia

LA VILLA, Italy – There was no stopping Marco Odermatt this time.

A day after an uncharacteristic third-place finish on the same course, the Olympic champion won another giant slalom in Alta Badia on Monday. It is his 15th career World Cup victory.

It was clear the course crew was able to prepare the second run surface well. The lead changed regularly as skiers crossed the finish. Alta Badia delivered another surprise. After the first 10 racers, only one had moved more than one position. Slovakia’s Adam Zampa had an issue and had fallen five places. 

Today, however, the best displayed their abundant talents. Marco Odermatt wins again over the very fast Henrik Kristoffersen and Zan Kranjec. But it was exciting to the end.

Kristoffersen, second quickest after the first run, arrived at the finish with a 0.72 lead over Kranjec. Indeed, he had set himself up for his first giant slalom victory of the 2022-23 season. However, the only man left at the start is the world’s best men’s ski racer, Odermatt. At this point, Kristoffersen had to hope Odermatt would make a mistake. Unfortunately for the Norwegian, he didn’t. Skiing with just enough speed Odermatt relinquished four-tenths of his six-tenths lead. However, Odermatt wins his third giant slalom of the season. 

“This was probably the biggest fight ever,” said Odermatt, who has now won three of the four giant slaloms this season. “I was so, so tired already at the start and then it didn’t get better.”

Fatigued after two downhill races in nearby Val Gardena, Odermatt struggled into ninth in Sunday’s opening run before charging onto the podium in the day’s final run.

“It was a big improvement to yesterday. I was awake today,” Odermatt said after a dominant first run. “I knew with bib No. 2 it was a big advantage today and I had to use it.”

After the second Alta Badia GS, Odermatt was looking forward to a break before his next races in Bormio at the end of the month.

“Difficult, hard, exhausting,” he said of the Gran Risa. “After already a week in Val Gardena now to come here, two races in a row on a very difficult course. … A 1-minute, 20-second GS is very, very long and tough for the legs.”

Marcel Hirscher, the retired eight-time overall World Cup champion who won this race six times and now runs a ski company that supplies Kristoffersen, had nothing but praise for the 25-year-old Odermatt.

“He can win and achieve everything,” Hirscher said, adding, “if he stays healthy.”

The Swiss number one increased his commanding lead in the GS World Cup standings to 95 points. Notably, today represents his fourth GS podium of the season and his ninth for the 2022-23 season. Four of his podiums are victories. He, additionally, extended his overall lead over Aleksander Aamodt Kilde to 271 points. Ski racing fans live in a golden age of alpine ski racing, and Odermatt is the men’s main show. 

Once the race came down to the best seven from the first run, the race got quite interesting. Germany’s Alexander Schmid arrived in the finish first and fended off the next two racers until yesterday’s first run leader Zan Kranjec showed the crowd he was a level above those who had already completed the race. With just three skiers to come, he was in first by 0.46 seconds. Kranjec then fended off the first run’s third-fastest Loic Meillard. He had guaranteed himself a podium position and ended up third. 

With the second run set by U.S. coach Ian Garner, American racers River Radamus and Tommy Ford finished 10th and 15th, respectively.

USA’s River Radamus is the fastest North American of the day. Skiing well on the second run, he took advantage of the good conditions and finished in the lead. Radamus held his 0.03 seconds lead over Belgium Sam Maes for the next four racers. It was then the Austrian Raphael Hasler crossed 0.30 faster. However, Radamus’s climb up the leaderboard didn’t end there. At the end of the race, Radamus had gained eight positions and finished his season’s best 10th for the day.

“I’m very satisfied with today’s race and I’ll take the momentum, get back to training and come out for the second half of the season strong,” said Radamus.

Radamus’s teammate Tommy Ford scored for the second time this season, finishing 16th. Ford’s second run effort moved him up seven positions. Unfortunately, the fastest North American on the first run, Canadian Erick Read, incurred difficulty on the second run and finished well back.

Sam Maes and Joan Verdu were the two racers making the most significant jumps up the finish order on the second run. Maes rose eleven positions and finished in 11th. Verdu moved up nine spots and finished 12th. Five athletes with bibs higher than thirty scored World Cup GS points today. Notably, today’s top home-country racer was the young Italian Filippo Della Vite. The 21-year-old Della Vite finished in 13th. 

The next men’s race will be the second slalom of the season in Madonna di Campiglio Thursday, December 22nd. 

Analysis of the top three and qualified North Americans, final results, and World Cup Standings

Results for the December 19th Alta Badia giant slalom

Current World Cup season GS standings

North Americans men who have scored World Cup GS points this season

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.