Dave Ryding: GEPA photos
Dave Ryding Publicizes Last World Cup Season
With retirement quick approaching, the 38-year-old Dave Ryding will enter his sixteenth and closing season on the World Cup slalom circuit.
Ryding made his World Cup debut at age 23 in 2009 and received the Europa Cup slalom title in 2013. A one-time World Cup winner, he introduced that he’ll retire after competing in his fifth Winter Olympics in Italy subsequent 12 months.
The Season Forward
Ryding will start his farewell marketing campaign in Levi, Finland, the place he scored his first World Cup factors in 2012 and earned his first top-10 end in 2016. Pending FIS Council approval, the season might conclude on Scandinavian snow on the 2026 FIS World Cup Finals in Hafjell, Norway.
Ryding’s Perspective
“Competing internationally, representing my nation on the World Cup circuit, and going to 4 Olympic Video games to this point has been the privilege of a lifetime,” Ryding stated. “I’ve all the time stated that I’d solely keep it up for so long as I believe I can carry out to my finest stage, and making this determination now frees me as much as give one final push to attempt to go one step additional over the subsequent season.”
Ryding, who grew up racing on a dry slope in Pendle, Lancashire, believes he nonetheless has extra to provide.
“I do know I’ve nonetheless obtained it in me to carry out on the prime of my recreation, however I’m additionally actually conscious that I’m at a special stage in life than I used to be even just a few years in the past,” he stated.
Biggest Hits
Ryding has stood on the World Cup podium seven instances within the final eight seasons. His breakthrough got here on a snowy day in January 2022, when he received the Kitzbühel slalom—turning into Britain’s first World Cup race winner.
That win adopted a second-place end in Kitzbühel in 2017, when he led the primary run and earned Britain’s first World Cup podium since Konrad Bartelski in 1981.
Reflecting on that day, Ryding stated, “The sensation I had that day was 99% the identical as I bear in mind once I first led the primary run in a dry slope race.” His phrases spotlight the significance of his grassroots background. He continued racing on dry slopes till age 21
“A Legend of the Sport”
The CEO of GB Snowsport stated, “What’s there to say about Dave that hasn’t already been stated? He’s an icon, a legend of the game, and a person who embodies the whole lot that makes British sport so unimaginable.
“His accomplishments on the slopes will likely be spoken about for many years, however the way in which he’s impressed folks throughout the nation and helped carry British Alpine snowboarding to a different stage is among the best success tales in British sports activities.”
Targets for the Season
Ryding seems targeted on two main objectives. Ryding goals to turn into the oldest man to achieve a World Cup slalom podium. He practically achieved it in Madonna di Campiglio in December 2023. That day, he was 12 days youthful than Italy’s Giuliano Razzoli throughout his final podium end.
He additionally hopes to enhance his Olympic finest—ninth place in slalom on the 2018 Pyeongchang Video games. A greater outcome would equal or surpass Martin Bell’s eighth place within the 1988 Calgary downhill, one of the best end by a Briton in Olympic Alpine snowboarding.
The Feelings
Many within the British ski racing neighborhood really feel a way of disappointment, however in addition they imagine Ryding might ship considered one of his finest seasons in 2025–26.. With retirement already introduced, he can focus solely on competing.
“It’s been one hell of a journey, and I’ve liked each second of it,” Ryding stated. “Now it’s time to make this closing season a particular one.”
He can definitely count on to obtain the Nice British sendoff he deserves.
