Stage Returner offers profound insights: this drives Yule to the brink of madness

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The German Alpine men have suffered a lot of blows from the media in recent weeks. Reason: In 18 races this winter, not a single DSV athlete reached the podium. That’s why a German reporter lets off a lot of steam in the media center shortly before the start of the Hahnenkamm Slalom: “Our downhill skiers are going crazy on the Streif and Linus Strasser is also far from his best this year!”

A few hours later, Strasser silenced his critics in the most impressive way: the 31-year-old achieved his fourth World Cup victory at the Ganslernhang. For the Munich native, this is also the greatest triumph, because he spent most of his childhood in Kitzbühel. «My parents have their second home in Kitzbühel and I took part in my first ski race as a young child, not far from the Ganslernhang. And when I was six, I became a member of the Kitzbüheler Ski Club.”

Strasser’s first trainer was current Hahnenkamm race director Mario Weinhandl. It was he who presented Strasser with the Gams trophy during the awards ceremony.

“Slalom is really a psychological sport”

Daniel Yule has already secured his fourth Kitzbühel chamois. After his victories in 2020 and 2023, the Valais is in third place this time, just like in 2018. The 30-year-old gave the Swiss slalom team their first podium finish this season.

Yule’s return to the “Stockerl” comes as no surprise, because for the first time this winter he finds the conditions he enjoys most in Kitzbühel. «Since switching to Fischer skis 17 years ago, I have been able to handle icy slopes the best. And because the residents of Kitzbühel pour a lot of water on the slopes at low temperatures, I feel particularly comfortable here.”

But Yule makes no secret of the fact that his work as a slalom specialist drives him increasingly to the edge of madness: “Every year I become more aware that slalom is really a psychological sport! You can hit fifty shots perfectly – if the 51st swing is off by one inch, it could all be over. This brutally exhausts you mentally. In the speed disciplines or giant slalom there is more room to correct a mistake.”

Advantage downhill riders

But there is another reason why Yule would sometimes much rather be a downhill skier: “If a fast skier opens the window in the morning and sees that there is forty centimeters of fresh snow outside, he can stay in the hotel because there is no downhill is. skiing is carried out under these conditions. But you can almost always slalom, we have to train even in the worst weather.”

But after his 16th World Cup podium finish, Yule can again look to the future with confidence. The next slalom classic is scheduled for Wednesday in Schaldming. And the “Planai” will be no less icy than the Ganslernhang in Kitzbühel.

Source : Blick