Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the former twin cities "under the Zugspitze", is one of the most famous ski resorts of the whole alpine region. The Bavarian town hosted the Olympic Winter Games in 1936, the Arlberg Kandahar races since 1954, FIS Ski World Cups since 1970, the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in 1978 and 2011, and the FIS Alpine Junior World Ski Championships in 2009. For that reason, Garmisch-Partenkirchen is been considered the cradle of ski racing in Germany.
Super-G. Friday, February 5th. 11:30 (CET)
Downhill. Saturday, February 6th. 11:30 (CET)
The Kandahar run in Garmisch-Partenkirchen is one of the most demanding races in the Alpine Ski World Cup. The Men’s downhill course has been modified to be a bit shorter but more challenging, including four jumps. The new middle section uses the mountain’s naturally steep and curving terrain and leads into the final third of the course which will certainly challenge the racers, especially in the “Free Fall" the steepest section of the racecourse.
Start Elevation: 1490 m
Finish Elevation: 770 m
Vertical Drop: 720 m
Distance: 2920 m
Beat Feuz won the last two Downhill World Cup races, in Kitzbühel on 22 and 24 January. The last man to win three successive Downhill World Cup races was Dominik Paris in Kitzbühel, Kvitfjell, and Soldeu from January to March 2019.
Feuz has won 12 Downhill World Cup races. Among active male skiers, only Dominik Paris (14) has won more Downhill events in the World Cup than 33-year-old Feuz. Only Franz Klammer (41), Peter Müller (41), and Stephan Eberharter (38) have recorded as many podium finishes in Men's World Cup Downhill events as Feuz (38).
Matthias Mayer won the Downhill in Bormio this season. He won two Downhill World Cup events in 2019-2020. After his win in Bormio, Mayer finished second in Kitzbühel on 22 January and third on 24 January. Mayer has won in total six Downhill World Cup races.
Johan Clarey (40) became the oldest skier (man/woman) to finish on the podium of a World Cup event, when he was the runner up in Kitzbühel on 24 January.
Dominik Paris (14) is the active male skier to have won the most Downhill events in the World Cup.
Christof Innerhofer is the only Italian man to have won a Downhill World Cup in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in February 2013.
Last season German speedster Thomas Dressen found the right line and won the 4th World Cup race of his career in a tight victory in front of his crowd.
Thomas Dressen took his second World Cup win of the season in Garmisch-Partenkirchen followed by Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (+0.16) and Johan Clarey (+0.17).
In 2018 after Lake Louise and Wengen, Beat Feuz was able to claim a third win of the season, ahead of the duo Vincent Kriechmayr and Dominik Paris tied in second place.
The Swiss “Kugelblitz” was impressive on the fast and dark track of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where we earned two 3rd places in 2016 and 2017. Especially on the “Free Fall” section, one of the steepest of the World Cup with an approx. steepness of 90%, Beat Feuz was able to gain time and could carry his speed all the way to the finish.
In 2017 two Downhills were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The first one was a make-up race for the canceled Men’s competition in Wengen and meant that the athletes only took one training run on the formidable slope. The schedule shake-up seems to have suited the U.S. Ski Team’s Travis Ganong as he took the win with a final time of 1:53.71, 0.38 seconds ahead of Norwegian Kjetil Jansrud and 0.52 seconds ahead of Italian Peter Fill.
In the second Downhill Austrian speedster, Hannes Reichelt found the fall line and won the 12th World Cup race of his career. Hannes Reichelt took his only World Cup win of the 2016-2017 season in Garmisch-Partenkirchen followed by Italy's Peter Fill (+0.16) and Switzerland's Beat Feuz (+0.52). It was the last victory for Reichelt in a World Cup Downhill Race.
Vincent Kriechmayr won the last Super-G World Cup race in Kitzbühel on 25 January. It was his first World Cup victory of the season. The last man to win successive Super-G World Cup events was Dominik Paris in Kvitfjell and Soldeu in March 2019.
Last season, Kriechmayer claimed two World Cup wins, the Super-G in Val Gardena and in Hinterstoder. Five of his seven World Cup wins came in Super-G events, the other two were Downhill triumphs.
Marco Odermatt finished second in Kitzbühel on 25 January. It was his second podium finish in a Super-G World Cup, after winning the Super-G in Beaver Creek in December 2019.
Matthias Mayer has won 10 World Cup events, including three Super-G races. His last Super-G victory was in Lake Louise on 1 December 2019. Mayer finished 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 3rd in each of his last four World Cup starts (all speed events), including third in the Super-G in Kitzbühel on 25 January.
Mauro Caviezel will return in Garmisch to the competition after suffered an injury in training four weeks ago. His fifth place in his last Super-G, in Bormio on 29 December, ended a run of four top-2 finishes in Super-G races, including a win in Val d'Isère (12 December). Caviezel finished in the top-5 in each of his last 10 Super-G starts in the World Cup.
Comments