Odermatt Wins Kitzbuhel Super G

Marco Odermatt (SUI/Stöckli) claimed a first ever victory in Kitzbühel as he won the men's Super G with a time of 1:13.25 on Friday.

The current leader of the Giant Slalom, Downhill, Super G and Overall has left little to conquer on the Audi FIS Ski World Cup tour, but on the opening race of a three-day weekend he bettered his previous career best of second in the Super G, which he registered in January 2021.

With multiple crashes and helicopter evacuations causing course holds throughout the day, it was a long race. The French team was particularly victimized, with former World Cup overall champion Alexis Pinturault suffering a fracture, bone bruise and knee injury. Almost all of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team men were stuck in the start gate for a while while the course was fixed.

"I knew it was a good run from the top to the bottom,” Odermatt said. “Not the best I could show. I think in the middle section and the traverse, I could ski better. But this is Super G. I guess it's very difficult; the most difficult discipline to have a perfect run from the first until the last gate.”

The race four years ago - the last one to take place in Kitzbühel - was won by Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT/Head), who had been close to taking part on Friday but made a late call to not take the risk following his crash in the Wengen Downhill on Saturday.

That left the door open for Odermatt, who had told FIS before the day started that he had watched the 2021 race and saw a "long-haired and quite skinny - still a boy" version of himself all those years ago.

On Friday he showed how far he has come, beating second-place Raphael Haaser (AUT/Fischer) by 11 hundredths of a second and Swiss team-mate Stefan Rogentin (SUI/Fischer), who finished third, by three tenths of a second to claim his second Super G win of the season.

The victory sets up the Swiss skier perfectly for Saturday's Downhill race on the legendary Streif, which he referenced in an interview with Swiss newspaper Blick in September as his "main goal for the season".

"It's an amazing day for me. It's not the Downhill, that remains the big goal for tomorrow, or for whenever, but it's a big step for me today,” the Stöckli skier said. "Winning the Super G and having the first golden Gams is very nice. If you can leave Kitzbühel as a winner, this is already a very good weekend."

For Haaser, it was an impressive run down the hill to deny the Swiss a podium clean sweep after Franjo von Allmen (SUI/Head) had misjudged his height off the jump late on the course to lose precious time which ultimately saw him finish fourth.

"It's a childhood dream come true. Really amazing. I'm really happy with my performance today,” said hometown favourite Haaser. "Kitzbühel is Kitzbühel. You don't find it anywhere else in the world. It's the ski race of the year. I live 45 minutes away from here so it's really a home race for me. I'm really happy today."

Rogentin, meanwhile, had battled illness as well as a strong field for an impressive finish of third for a second Super G podium of the season.

"I'm really happy that it worked out like this," the Fischer skier said. "Not the best option to start the race like that, but I'm really happy. Especially when it finished like that."

There were several delays as plenty of skiers spun out on the track, including French pair Alexis Pinturault (Head) and Florian Loriot (Rossignol) who both required an airlift for further medical assistance.

There was a total of 14 DNFs across the day, with Rogentin saying conditions had been challenging due to shadows appearing on the course as the event wore on.

"It felt pretty bad to ski down this track because it was pretty different from the top to the finish. Different conditions on the track," he said. "You have to manage the different conditions and just go push it. You feel it when it's changing, especially the middle part is bumpy and dark. This one was the hardest part for me because of visibility."

Canada's Cameron Alexander (Rossignol) rounded off the top five, while Adrian Smiseth Sejersted (NOR/Atomic) led a pack of six skiers in the bottom half of the top ten - including a tie for tenth place - who were all separated by just one tenth of a second.

For the Americans,  U.S. Ski Team athlete Bryce Bennett led the way in 19th place. It was his best super-G result at this venue. Jared Goldberg was 22nd and Wiley Maple rounded out the points for the U.S. in 29th.

“I have been skiing good super-G and it was alright, but it was more about trying to figure out the edges,” said Bennett. “It was almost like another training run for me. I’ve been struggling with ice and we tried a new solution today. We are really close and I feel confident to be dialed in for tomorrow.”

After rain overnight in the valley, the surface firmed up nicely for the top of the race. However the sun came in and out throughout the race day, making for a crash-ridden day. The first bib did not finish, which meant Ryan Cochran-Siegle, running bib 2, was the first man to make it down the course. Cochran-Siegle skied a bit conservatively, coupled with a costly mistake which left him out of the top 30.

“I felt like I pushed through a lot of boundaries mentally with Pinturault being helicoptered away right before I went,” said Goldberg. “I watched a lot of guys go before me lose skis so I knew from inspection that it was going to be pretty gnarly and I was hoping that I would be able to step on the ski and just plow through that stuff.”

Goldberg's strong performance in 22nd place will give him confidence into Saturday's downhill, a race where he had his best downhill result two years prior.

But the day belonged to Bennett, who stole the show for the U.S., popping in one of his best super-G results and the best super-G finish at Kitzbühel.

The winner of the race was none other than Swiss skier Marco Odermatt for his first win at the venue. In second was Austrian Raphael Haaser and Swiss skier Stefan Rogentin was third. Cochran-Siegle, River Radamus and Kyle Negomir also raced and landed in 32nd, 34th and 39th. Sam Morse did not finish but is OK.

It was clear however that the true Hahnenkamm day is on Saturday for the downhill. The downhill has already sold out of tickets and will surely bring in the lively and electric atmosphere that makes the race iconic.

“I’ve been enjoying the classic World Cup downhill schedule so you can put all of your eggs in one basket and focus," said Bennett. "Connecting all the sections here top to bottom and carrying speed onto the road is so important. The easy things are key here.”