Odermatt back at his best to seal Val Gardena Downhill glory

Marco Odermatt (SUI/ Stöckli) has not had the perfect start to the 2024-25 season – struggling in the opening races of the winter and not quite looking his ruthless best even when he has been making podiums.

At the Downhill at Val Gardena on Saturday, however, Odermatt was back to his imperial finest, winning in “one of my best Downhills”. It was his 40th career World Cup title.

The defending Downhill and Overall champion triumphed for the first time on this piste, putting down a virtually error free performance, mastering the tricky mid-course turns and celebrating wildly at the finish.

It was a great day for the Swiss team overall. Franjo Van Allmen (SUI/ Head) finished second (+0.45 behind) – a career best for the 23-year-old racer. Ryan Cochrane-Siegle (USA/ Head) finished third, on a course much loved by American racers (+0.46).

Vintage Odi on display

Odermatt had finished third in the Super G at Val Gardena on Friday, and had described it as “the hardest easy course” for him to make time: it lacks in technical turns for him to apply his Giant Slalom prowess to. 

The Downhill here, however, has a fiendish mid-section where holding the line is often the difference between victory and defeat. On better, more compact snow than yesterday’s piste, Odermatt executed perfectly, putting on a vintage display similar to those he has shown over the last couple of seasons.

Asked whether this might be his best ever performance in the discipline, he said: “I have the same feeling. It was one of my best Downhills. I said the same when I came to the finish, it came close to Courchevel or Wengen last season.

“If you want to win a Downhill you need a perfect run. Today, already on the top, which is not really my section, I could ski really well. Finally I also jumped well, and then it was really perfect, I’m really happy.”

Had he put in extra hours over the summer to perfect his technique? “Not really, I am still in the GS group,” said Odermatt. “But for sure we worked a lot on speed, I have the perfect team around me, we do a lot of work with testing the skis and making the skis fast, so a big thanks goes to them.”

His closest rivals couldn’t compete. Cyprien Sarrazin (FRA/ Rossignol) laboured on the mid section, Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT/ Head) didn’t get away quickly enough, and Mattia Casse (ITA/ Rossignol), the winner yesterday and fastest in Downhill training, couldn’t gain speed over the vital sections.

If this is the start of Odermatt coming back into form, he will take a lot of stopping in the Downhill Crystal Globe race again.

Allmen learning from the master

The Swiss team is bristling with talent at the moment, and Franjo Van Allmen (SUI/ Head) is relishing being colleagues with Odermatt.

A brilliant performer at junior level, Allmen demonstrated that he is a real prospect back in January 2024, when he recorded third place in the Audi FIS World Cup Super G at Garmisch.

In Val Gardena, he went one better, finishing second after setting the pace early thanks to a run full of Odermatt-like levels of aggression, control and recovery.

“I am very happy with it, I was not expecting such a good race,” said Allmen. “I don’t know what to say. Bormio is next, it’s usually icy there, it is unexpected, but I am excited.”

Odermatt was full of praise. “We have an amazing team, a very young team but already so fast,” he said about Allmen. “We are doing well and the young guns are coming, that’s cool to see.”

Americans continue Val Gardena love-in

Ryan Cochrane-Siegle also excelled. He got off to a quick start, kept steady mid course and then turned up the heat on the lower sections, finishing just one hundredth of a second behind Allmen. 

It was the USA racer’s third podium finish. All of them have come in Italy: he won the Super G in Bormio in December 2020, and came third in the Val Gardena Downhill the same season. 

“It was good skiing, it was fun,” he said. “Gardena is a really challenging hill to ski, in the sense of skiing fast.

“I’ve had runs here were I thought I’d put down a good one, and it’s been seconds out, so you really never know until you cross the finish line. I was just focusing on trying to carry speed as much as possible.

“When I ski my best I do that – keeping skiing really simple, back to basics.”

Why do USA skiers continue to thrive here? “We just enjoy skiing the slope here, number one,” said Cochrane-Siegle. “There’s an element of the right preparation. We like the hotel we stay at, we have fun here. The people here are great and it’s a special place.”

As conditions improved radically later in the race, several racers lower down the order threatened to make the podium: Martin Cater (SLO/ Salomon), 42^nd out the gate, came closest, finishing fifth (+0.50).

Odermatt leads the Downhill standings after two of nine races this season.

His three-pronged defence of the Giant Slalom, Super G and Downhill Crystal Globes continue on Sunday in the GS at Alta Badia.