Bormio, 27 December 2024 – Everything is ready on the Stelvio of Bormio for the traditional World Cup downhill that closes the calendar year. Saturday and Sunday of great spectacle on the Valtellina slope, downhill and superG, where the best jet men will compete for one of the most sought-after races of the season. Unfortunately, there is bad news and that is the fall in the second timed test of Cyprien Sarrazinthrown from a hill and transported away by helicopter. The Frenchman was one of the favorites, especially after the best time in Thursday’s race, but he will have to stay in the pits for a long time and his health conditions are worrying. He was conscious but complained of strong pain in one foot and hit his head violently: the tests revealed a sudural hematoma, that is, at the intracranial level between the meninges. He will be operated on. The first criticisms of the organization immediately came from his compatriot Nils Happywho accused an inadequate preparation of the track. The controversies will not end soon. Saturday, however, the race will take place and the group of participants is of the highest level with great expectations also in Italy with Mattia Broken and Dominik Parisbut the obvious favourite, without Sarrazin, becomes the cannibal Marco Odermatt.
How were the tests
In the first test itself Sarrazin had obtained the best time in 1’54”48 with a 1”07 advantage over Mattia Brokenthen followed by Alexis Money at 1”17, ahead of Cochran Siegle, Christof Innerhofer (+1”41), Matthieu Bailet, Nils Alphand, James Crawford, Giovanni Franzoni (+2”00) and Stefan Rogentin. In the second test on Friday, as mentioned, Cyprien Sarrazin fell in the fifth sector, after having shown three excellent split times, so the best performance, but with a higher time than Thursday, was by Cameron Alexander in 1’55”13, with 53 hundredths on Rogentin, 84 on Babinsky and 98 on Von Allmen, while the Italians placed seventh with Mattia Casse at 1”18 and eighth with Dominik Paris at 1”25. Marco Odermatt was still hidden, only eleventh at 1”55.
The declarations of the Azzurri
In the last two seasons Broken found the best results of his career on the Stelvio, ninth in 2022 and sixth twelve months ago and after the victory in Gardena, in super G, the awareness has increased: “I have to tell the truth, today is perhaps the first time that I felt at ease – his words to the federal channels – I was happy, I had good sensations and it is a good point forward. Above the snow it is a bit more icy, in the lower part it is more aggressive. Downhill and super G go forward together, I make no difference: they are disciplines of equal importance and I have the same desire to be competitive in both”. Steps forward for Paristhe true king of the Stelvio with six downhill victories. After Thursday’s exit, today the South Tyrolean found a top ten in the second test: “Today better than yesterday, I changed the set-up a bit and it went better – his analysis – I didn’t expect the fall yesterday, but we saw with Sarrazin that it can happen at any moment; I’m sorry he fell. The real issue is being able to manage the different types of snow in the points where it changes, it’s not easy to stay on top of things”.
The favourites
The specialty ranking is still in progress, Odermatt leads with 180 points, second Muricer to 102, and so the protagonists of Saturday’s race can be multiple. There is great regret for the absence of Sarrazinwould have been the main favorite, so we need to start with Marco Odermatt, who won in Gardena and is now an expert downhill skier, even more so on a technical track like the Stelvio. Watch out for the Canadians with James Crawford and Cameron Alexander always dangerous, while in the Swiss house also Franjo From Allmen can have his say. The Americans will bet on Ryan Cochran sealbut watch out for the Austrians, who started off quietly but were dangerous with Vincent KriechmayrOtmart StriedingerStephan Babinsky and Daniel Hemetsberger. The Azzurri will have two high profile cards. Dominik Paris He won six times on the Stelvio and Mattia Broken has found his place at a high level for a couple of seasons now. Possible outsiders Rogentin, Alphand and Bailet.
The starting bibs
1 Stefan Babinsky 2 Miha Hrobat 3 Franjo Von Allmen 4 Stefan Rogentin 5 Blaise Giezendanner 6 Cameron Alexander 7 Justin Murisier 8 Bryce Bennett 9 Ryan Cochran Siegle 10 Nils Allegre 11 Vincent Kriechmayr 12 James Crawford 13 Mattia Casse 14 Dominik Paris 15 Marco Odermatt 16 Florian Schieder 17 Adrien Theaux 18 Maxence Muzaton 19 Alexis Monney 20 Otmar Striedinger 21 Matthieu Bailet 22 Stefan Eichberger 23 Christof Innerhofer 24 Sam Morse 25 Nils Alphand 26 Romed Baumann 27 Elian Lehto 28 Jared Goldberg 29 Adrian Smiseth Sejersted 30 Marco Kohler As for the other Italians in the race: Molteni with the 43, Alliod with 46, Franzoni with 52, Abbruzzese with 55. Pietro Zazzi will not be competing, having fallen in the second test and suffering a compound fracture of the tibia and fibula
Where to see it on TV
The downhill on the Stelvio di Bormio opens the Italian stage of the end of the calendar year on Saturday 28 December with a start time of 11.30:11.15. As always, there will be a double live TV broadcast, both free-to-air and on pay TV. Live on Rai Due starting at 1:210 with commentary by Davide Labate and Alberto Schieppati. Streaming on Raiplay. Live on pay TV on Eurosport XNUMX, Sky channel XNUMX, with commentary by Zoran Filicic and Silvano Varettoni. Streaming on Discovery Plus and Dazn. On Sunday, the year will close with the super-G at the same time.
