Slalom star Yule makes his undisputed breakthrough
With his three victories in the classic Slaloms in Madonna di Campiglio, Adelboden and Kitzbühel the 27-year-old Swiss Daniel Yule this season confirmed his status as an absolutely world-class racer. No other Slalom skier won more races, and Yule also chalked up two third places in Levi and Schladming. The athlete from the canton of Valais finished the Slalom World Cup season in third place overall, and even had the small crystal globe within his grasp before skiing out in the final Giant Slalom in Chamonix.
Speed ace Kriechmayr always delivers
A crystal globe was also the stated target of Vincent Kriechmayr before the start of the season. In the end, the 28-year-old Upper Austrian was only three points away from reaching that ambitious goal in the World Cup Super G. Victories in Gröden and Hinterstoder and a third place in Lake Louise were ultimately just too little. The cancellation of the last race in Kvitfjell certainly did not help either, something that “Vince” is probably still annoyed about today. Kriechmayr proved that nothing is ever too tough for him by finishing second in the two classic Downhills in Beaver Creek and Kitzbühel.
Fourth World Cup win for Nici Schmidhofer
With her victory in the second Downhill in Lake Louise and a second place in the Super G in Garmisch Partenkirchen, former world champion Nicole Schmidhofer produced some outstanding World Cup results this season, too. The 31-year-old from Styria ended the Super G World Cup in third place.
Katharina Truppe is another who can look back on the season with satisfaction. The first-ever World Cup podium she had wanted so badly finally arrived for the 24-year-old Carinthian when she finished third in the Slalom in Levi. Her class was confirmed three months later in mid-February when she repeated the feat, finishing third in the Slalom in Kranjska Gora.
Two medals at the Junior WSC
Two young Fischer ladies from the Future Team rounded off the Junior World Championships in Narvik on a high note by clinching two medals in the Ladies’ Giant Slalom. In the last race of the prematurely ended championships in Norway, Slovene Neja Dvornik and Norwegian Kaja Norbye – both with World Cup experience – were bettered only by Sweden’s Sara Rask.
