Felix Neureuther about dominator Marco Odermatt: “In Aspen he wins by one second”

class=”sc-cffd1e67-0 iQNQmc”>

Marco Odermatt (26) provokes special reactions from competitors and experts with his gigantic series. “Is this Odermatt a human or is this artificial ski intelligence?” ORF commentator Oliver Polzer (51) has been wondering all winter. Austrian slalom hero Manuel Feller (31, four wins this season, second in the overall World Cup) shook his angular head in disbelief on Saturday in Palisades Tahoe (USA) after Odermatt’s tenth major victory in a row and groaned: “It’s crazy what this dog allows himself to see.”

The best Odermatt?

After his 21st World Cup victory in the giant slalom, Odermatt received the greatest tribute from the German ski pope Felix Neureuther (39). “What Marco showed in Palisades is, in my opinion, the strongest performance he has ever shown at a World Cup giant slalom.”

Neureuther, who won thirteen World Cups between 2010 and 2017, explains: “It starts with the fact that, unlike Kristoffersen, Odermatt has barely been able to prepare for this race in California. While the Norwegian traveled to the US for testing a week before this competition, Marco took part in a downhill and a super-G in Kvitfjell, Norway. That’s why he could only fly abroad three days before the giant slalom.”

But what impressed the triumphant Adelboden of 2014 the most: “Kristoffersen, who for me is the best athlete in the world in skiing, achieved two huge runs that were at the limit in Palisades. He risked a knee injury in every corner, Henrik cannot ride the giant slalom faster! And yet Odermatt was twelve-hundredths faster in the final calculation – phenomenal!”

Will he also win in Aspen?

The Alpine Circus travels from California to Colorado. Odermatt will compete in two more giant slaloms on Friday and Saturday in Aspen. A 16th place is enough for the Buochser to win the little giant ball.

The last World Cup giant slalom to date was held in Aspen in 2017. At that time, Neureuther took second place behind Marcel Hirscher (34). “I’m pretty sure, unlike Palisades, there won’t be a hundredth crime story on this slope. In Aspen, Odermatt will find more passages where he and his class will create a difference. I think he will win here by a second,” says Neureuther.

Accommodation in the dream villa

Last year, Odermatt, the three-time overall World Cup winner, won the Super-G in Aspen. The Lake Lucerne superstar also pulled off a very special coup at the US luxury ski resort while looking for accommodation. “Immediately after we arrived in Aspen, we were billeted in a horrible demolition building,” Odermatt recalls. «But then Gino Caviezel, Justin Murisier and I met a man who let us use a Swiss colleague’s house on the sunny slope. When we moved in, we were shocked because this house is a villa with three swimming pools, two bars, a cinema and a gym.”

The Swiss lived alone in this dream villa for three days. Odermatt: “Then the owner came back.” And the owner of this dream villa is Christian Sachs, the son of the legendary Gunter Sachs (1932–2011), who lived in Gstaad BE and St. Moritz GR. “He has two children who also race. We were able to make them happy with racing suits and starting numbers.” And that’s why Odermatt, Murisier and Caviezel are also staying at Villa Sachs this week.

Source : Blick