
The Swiss are also among the front runners in the first training session for Saturday's World Championship Downhill in Saalbach. Stefan Rogentin, Marco Odermatt and Alexis Monney are ranked 4th, 5th and 7th.
The ranking list after the first downhill training session is of limited significance. It was no different on Wednesday. Most of the racers saw the practice run as an opportunity to get to grips with the task in hand. Further training sessions are planned for Thursday and Saturday.
The starting position for Vincent Kriechmayr was somewhat different. The Austrian used the run as a further stress test for his right knee, in which he had suffered a pulled inner ligament in his crash two and a half weeks earlier in the downhill in Wengen.
Kriechmayr was already considering a return six days after the mishap on the Lauberhorn in the Super-G in Kitzbühel, but abandoned his intention. Kriechmayr's first training run on the Schneekristall piste was enough for second place behind Ryan Cochran-Siegle. The American was 65 hundredths faster.
Three-way battle for the last starting place
It came as no surprise that Rogentin was the best-placed of the Swiss racers who have performed so well this World Cup winter. In the second training session on Thursday, the man from Graubünden will have to compete in an internal team elimination for the fifth and final starting place in Sunday's race. Other contenders are Marco Kohler and Lars Rösti. Kohler finished 13th on Wednesday, Rösti 32nd. The Swiss are allowed to compete with five athletes because they have the reigning world champion, Odermatt, who is not part of the normal contingent.
Like Rogentin, Odermatt and Monney lost just over a second on Cochran-Siegle's best time. Franjo von Allmen and Justin Murisier, the other Swiss with a guaranteed start on Sunday, followed in 11th and 36th place.
The live ticker
-
Liveticker
-
Liveticker closed
-
Start number 30
30 riders at the finish - Cochran-Siegle untouched
After 30 racers, everything points to Ryan Cochran-Siegle winning the first downhill training. The best Swiss skier is Stefan Rogentin in fourth place, followed by Marco Odermatt in fifth.
The top 10 of the first training run. Picture: FIS -
Start number 26
Rösti loses almost three seconds
The seventh and last Swiss driver feels his way around the track, but refrains from taking unnecessary risks and thus loses almost three seconds on the best time. He will definitely show a different face in the second training session.
-
Starting number 21
Marco Kohler crosses the finish line in eleventh place
Things get really serious for Marco Kohler in tomorrow's second practice session. He will then be fighting for a grid position for the race. Kohler shows a solid drive, but does not yet push the limits and finishes 1.8 seconds behind.
-
Starting number 18
Babinsky finishes in 3rd place
After Kriechmayr, another Austrian shows his potential. Stefan Babinsky is 95 hundredths slower than Cochran-Siegle, but that is currently enough for third place.
-
Starting number 17
Cochran-Siegle with the clear new best time
The US American is already coping well with the World Championship course and clearly leaves the competition behind, especially in the lower section. At the finish, Cochran-Siegle has a lead of 65 hundredths over Kriechmayr and takes the lead.
-
Start number 15
Clean run by Odermatt
Odermatt approaches the World Championship course without revealing the maps. Thanks to a clean run, the gap is limited. At the finish, Odermatt is 0.4 seconds slower than Kriechmayr and ends up in 3rd place.
-
Start number 14
Relaxed run by Murisier
As usual, Justin Murisier does not push himself to the limit in the first training run. By the time he reaches the finish, the gap adds up to two and a half seconds. But that won't throw the 33-year-old off course.
-
Starting number 13
Strong performance from Kriechmayr
After 35-year-old Dominik Paris loses a lot of time to Rogentin with bib 11, another experienced skier keeps up much better: Vincent Kriechmayr is back after his heavy fall in Wengen and sets a new best time. The Austrian takes 36 hundredths off Rogentin.
-
Starting number 8
Von Allmen lines up in 4th place
The next Swiss skier follows immediately. Franjo von Allmen loses half a second to the leader in the upper section, but then turns up the pace and comes within 38 hundredths of Rogentin's best time. That means intermediate 4th place.
-
Starting number 7
Monney just behind Rogentin
After Austria's Daniel Hemetsberger and Kitzbühel winner James Crawford were unable to keep up with Rogentin, Alexis Monney tried his hand. And Monney is in a neck-and-neck race with his team-mate. Although he crossed the finish line upright, he only lost 15 hundredths and finished in 2nd place.
-
Start number 4
Strong drive from Rogentin
The first Swiss skier pulls out a big lead by the third intermediate time. Although he loses some time compared to Casse by the finish, Rogentin takes the lead by 36 hundredths of a second.
-
Start number 2
Casse sets a clear new best time
The Italian clearly distances himself from Sejersted and is a whole three seconds faster. Nils Allegre with start number 3 was able to keep up much better, but ultimately remained 66 hundredths behind Casse and finished in 2nd place.
-
Start number 1
Sejersted sets first target time
The Norwegian gets through without any major problems and crosses the finish line after 1:45:55.
-
The race is about to start
All set for the first men's downhill training! In excellent conditions, the Norwegian Adrian Smiseth Sejersted opens the training at 12 noon.
-
7 Swiss at the start
A total of 69 racers are taking part in the opening training session, including the following seven Swiss racers:
Race number 4: Stefan Rogentin
Race number 7: Alexis Monney
Race number 8: Franjo von Allmen
Race number 14: Justin Murisier
Race number 15: Marco Odermatt
Race number 21: Marco Kohler
Race number 26: Lars Rösti -
Hello ...
... and welcome to the live ticker of the first training run for the men's World Championship downhill. While the women have already completed two runs on the World Championship course, the men are also feeling their way around the course in Saalbach on Wednesday afternoon. You can follow the action in our live ticker from 12 noon.