KITZBUEHEL (AUSTRIA) (ITALPRESS) – A masterful Alex Vinatzer is second in the Kitzbuehel slalom behind only Frenchman Clement Noel. An irresistible second run allowed the 25-year-old from Val Gardena to rise from the 11th position he occupied at mid-race to seize the most prestigious result of his World Cup career, where he previously had two podium appearances, always in third, between Madonna di Campiglio and Zagreb in 2020. Vinatzer’s trophy cabinet also shines with the rainbow bronze medals in slalom in 2023 and in the team parallel in 2019, and just days before the World Championships, the Italian is back to full expression on the highest circuit. Among the slippery bumps of a rain-soaked Gaslern, Vinatzer accomplished a real feat: second heat time to start an upswing interrupted only by Noel, fourth after the first heat and then winner in 1’41″49 with only nine hundredths of a margin over Vinni. Victory had never been so close for Vinatzer: behind him Brazilian (by passport) Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was third at 0″19, while Norway’s Timon Haugan, leader after the first, went out after a few gates; similar fate for France’s Steven Amiez, actually out and 27th at the finish line by honor of signature. Before today there had always been one mistake too many separating Vinatzer from a result to remember: in Kitzbuehel Vinatzer was able to fine-tune all the details to find room on the podium. Italy had been missing from the World Cup slalom podium for three years, since the podium taken by Razzoli in January 2022 in Wengen: after three years Vinatzer brings the Italian slalom back into the spotlight (without forgetting, as mentioned, the rainbow medal) to revive the team’s mood and especially his own, after several races in which he had failed to express himself at his best. Instead, the other Azzurri stopped in the first run: Stefano Gross paid 2″29 and was the first of those excluded from the second fraction, Simon Maurberger 2″80 and Tobias Kastlunger 2″96; out went Tommaso Saccardi and Matteo Canins. The success allows Noel to move to the top of the specialty ranking with 464 points, 29 more than Kristoffersen, who was out in the first run; Vinatzer moves up to 17th. Nothing changes at the top of the overall, however: Odermatt leads with 1006 points ahead of Kristoffersen himself (634). And now the appointment is with Schladming, Austria: a giant slalom and a slalom are scheduled between Tuesday and Wednesday on the Planai.- Photo Ipa Agency -(ITALPRESS).
