Schmidhofer takes Downhill globe
Nicole Schmidhofer can look back on an outstanding season with three victories (2 in Downhill and 1 in Super G), six podium finishes and winning a small crystal globe. In doing so the 30-year-old speed specialist made it to the top of the podium for the first time in the World Cup as well – a feeling she had experienced before when she became Super G world champion in 2017. The lively Styrian still has one special goal left this season: she wants to reach the 200 km/h mark at the Speed Skiing WSC in Vars (France) this coming week and then as a reward she will be off to Egypt for a diving holiday.
Ramona Siebenhofer also rewarded herself this season with her first two World Cup victories. The Styrian racer struck twice in the middle of January in the Downhill classic in Cortina d'Ampezzo and also made it to the podium on the Saslong piste in Gröden where she came third. The 27-year-old was in the running for the Downhill World Cup title until the end and finished it in third place.
Young Carinthian racer Katharina Truppe can likewise be highly satisfied with her season: eleven top-ten places in total in Slalom, Giant Slalom and City Events speak for themselves. The 23-year-old was also absolutely delighted about silver in the Team Event at the WSC in which she won all her races and played a major part in the success.
The season ended on a very pleasing note for Giant Slalom specialist Eva-Maria Brem. The Tyrolean racer appears to have finally overcome her severe leg injury and finished in 6th and 7th place in Spindlermühle and Soldeu.
Two WSC medals and victory in Wengen for Kriechmayr
In the men's races Vincent Kriechmayr picked up where he left off in the previous year. The ambitious Upper Austrian set the pace in the speed sector right from the beginning of the season and finished in the top 5 eleven times. He celebrated his fourth World Cup victory in the Downhill classic in Wengen and was on the podium in Super G in Lake Louise (2nd) and Soldeu (3rd). In the end his consistency was rewarded with 2nd place in the Super G World Cup and 3rd in the battle for the Downhill globe. With silver in Super G and bronze in Downhill, the 27-year-old was also the only speed racer to pick up two medals at the WSC in Åre.
Max Franz had a number of impressive performances too in his first season for Fischer. The Carinthian won the first two Downhill races of the season with his new skis in Lake Louise and went on to clinch victory just one week later in the Super G in Beaver Creek. Another podium followed when he came second in the Downhill classic in Gröden but the season came to an abrupt end for Franz in the middle of January with a broken heel bone on the Streif in Kitzbühel. We wish him a speedy recovery!
First ever victory and WSC gold for Daniel Yule
In the technical disciplines Daniel Yule was the "Man of the Year" for Fischer. The Slalom specialist from Wallis celebrated his first ever victory in the classic night race in Madonna di Campiglio and also made it to the podium with third place in Schladming and at the World Cup finals in Soldeu. The Swiss racer's basic speed was convincing, with eleven top-ten finishes in total and second place overall behind Marcel Hirscher in the Slalom World Cup. The 26-year-old also won gold as a member of the victorious Swiss team in the Team Event at the WSC in Åre.
Thomas Fanara remained a force to be reckoned with in Giant Slalom in his last season. The 37-year-old was on the podium in Alta Badia (second), Adelboden and Bansko (third) and ended the GS World Cup racing year in 7th place. In his farewell race in Soldeu, Fanara regrettably skied out towards the end of the first run with the second fastest split time. Switzerland's Thomas Tumler finished third in Beaver Creek, clinching another podium for Fischer in Giant Slalom.
