Saalbach 2025 Men’s GS Preview: Top Contenders & Race Details

Joan Verdú, Loïc Meillard, Thomas Tumler podium Saalbach World Cup finals 2024: GEPA footage

Saalbach World Championship GS 2025: Who’s Racing, When, and Tips on how to Watch

Saalbach 2025 Males’s GS Preview: A Check of Stamina and Talent

The lads’s big slalom on the 2025 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach will problem racers with a protracted, demanding course on the Zwölferkogel. With 450 meters (1,476 toes) of vertical drop, the monitor requires a stability of energy, precision and endurance.

One of the vital defining options of the course is the Ochsenritt, a legendary part that has examined World Cup racers in previous competitions. This section begins with a compression that generates important forces, adopted by a breakover, a wave, and a protracted, flat stretch. Skiers should take in the compression, navigate the technical parts, and preserve as a lot pace as they will into the following part. A mistake right here may price precious time and momentum.

The course itself is comparatively flat for an enormous slalom. Nevertheless, what it lacks in steep pitches, it makes up for in size. As Marco Odermatt put it, “The large slalom course is pretty flat, however extraordinarily lengthy, making it very, very difficult.” The Swiss star, identified for his technical mastery and endurance, will likely be among the many favorites to sort out this demanding monitor.

Each part of the course will matter, with a area of prime racers set to battle for the world title. The Ochsenritt will likely be a key take a look at, and sustaining pace on the flatter sections may resolve the champion.

Saalbach 2024 Finals: The GS Podium

Loïc Meillard took the win within the 2024 World Cup Finals in Saalbach after a powerful second run, securing his place as a prime contender in big slalom. The Swiss skier, now ranked sixth within the GS standings, delivered beneath stress and claimed victory on a difficult course.

Joan Verdú joined him on the rostrum, the rising expertise from Andorra. Ranked seventeenth in GS this season, Verdú constructed on his momentum from final 12 months’s breakthrough, just lately ending sixth within the Schladming night time GS. His means to carry out on totally different programs has made him a constant top-level presence.

Thomas Tumler rounded out the rostrum with a third-place end. The Swiss veteran, presently ranked eighth in GS, proved his pace earlier within the season with a victory in Beaver Creek. His means to assault on longer programs makes him a racer to observe. With all three podium finishers returning to Saalbach for the World Championships, their previous success on this hill may produce one other robust outcome

With all three podium finishers returning to Saalbach for the World Championships, their previous success on this hill may produce one other robust outcome.

Males’s GS World Cup Podiums Main Into Saalbach

Sölden, Austria – 1st: Alexander Steen Olsen (NOR), 2nd: Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR), third: Atle Lie McGrath (NOR)

Beaver Creek, USA – 1st: Thomas Tumler (SUI), 2nd: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA), third: Žan Kranjec (SLO)

Val d’Isère, France – 1st: Marco Odermatt (SUI), 2nd: Patrick Feurstein (AUT), third: Stefan Brennsteiner (AUT)

Alta Badia, Italy – 1st: Marco Odermatt (SUI), 2nd: Léo Anguenot (FRA), third: Alexander Steen Olsen (NOR)

Adelboden, Switzerland – 1st: Marco Odermatt (SUI), 2nd: Loïc Meillard (SUI), third: Luca De Aliprandini (ITA)

Schladming, Austria – 1st: Alexander Steen Olsen (NOR), 2nd: Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR), third: Marco Odermatt (SUI)

Podium Rely by Nation:

Switzerland (SUI): 7 podiums (4 wins – Odermatt, 1 win – Tumler, 2 runner-ups – Meillard & Tumler)Norway (NOR): 6 podiums (2 wins – Steen Olsen, 2 runner-ups – Kristoffersen, 2 third place – McGrath & Steen Olsen)Austria (AUT): 2 podiums (1 runner-up – Feurstein, 1 third place – Brennsteiner)Slovenia (SLO): 1 podium (1 third place – Kranjec)France (FRA): 1 podium (1 runner-up – Anguenot)Italy (ITA): 1 podium (1 third place – De Aliprandini)Brazil (BRA): 1 podium (1 runner-up – Pinheiro Braathen)

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With the World Championship title on the road, these outcomes set the stage for an exhilarating battle in Saalbach. Odermatt stays the clear favourite, however Steen Olsen, Kristoffersen, and Tumler have all confirmed they will problem for the game’s largest prize. Just one skier will go away Saalbach as the brand new GS World Champion.

Present High 15 Males’s 2024-25 GS World Cup Standings

click on photos to enlarge

High 16 Males’s 2024-25 GS World Cup Standings

The 2024-25 GS standings spotlight the depth of competitors, with 9 nations within the prime 15 rankings. Norway leads with 4 athletes, adopted by Switzerland with three. Austria and France have two, whereas Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Brazil, and america have one skier within the prime 15.

With the Saalbach World Championships approaching, the standings and podium developments level to a decent battle between Switzerland and Norway for the title. The season chief, Switzerland, stays the favourite, however Norway’s a number of GS winners and Austria’s podium finishers recommend the race for gold is extensive open.

The latest Schladming GS podium, which noticed two Norwegians end forward of the general chief, strengthens the case for a Norwegian problem in Saalbach. Austria, racing on house snow, may additionally make a powerful push for the rostrum, whereas Slovenia and Switzerland have been constant threats all through the season.

Although World Cup factors should not awarded on the World Championships, the season’s outcomes strongly point out the highest contenders. One in all these skiers will go away Saalbach as the brand new GS World Champion.

100 racers from 60 nations will compete within the Males’s Big Slalom on the 2025 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Saalbach on February 14.

M. Kroisleitner (AUT) set the primary run course and H. Krug (SUI) will set the second.

2024-25 North American Males’s World Cup GS Rankings

Notably, Tommy Ford was named to the U.S. World Championship group however was injured coaching GS and won’t take part

U.S. Skiers Purpose to Shine

River Radamus

Radamus has been probably the most constant U.S. big slalom skier this season, sitting 14th within the World Cup standings. A Stifel U.S. Ski Workforce member, he has scored factors in all six GS races, along with his greatest end in Beaver Creek, the place he positioned seventh on house snow. He completed within the prime 15 5 instances and was seventeenth eventually 12 months’s Saalbach Finals. This will likely be his third World Championships GS look, following eleventh in 2021 and twelfth in 2023. Final season, he additionally earned his first World Cup podium, additional proving his means to compete on the highest degree. Together with his regular type and expertise, he’s the highest North American contender in Saalbach.

Patrick Kenney

Kenney, a former College of New Hampshire standout, earned his first World Championships begin after a breakthrough Twenty third-place end in Adelboden. Now racing independently with World Racing, he sits forty fifth within the season standings. Competing on the World Championships for the primary time will likely be a brand new problem, however his regular enchancment suggests he’s prepared for the chance.

Bridger Gile

Gile, additionally a Stifel U.S. Ski Workforce member, will make his World Championships debut in Saalbach. Ranked 81st in GS, he has 21 World Cup begins however remains to be aiming for his first World Cup Begin Listing factors. Whereas he has but to interrupt into the highest 30, he has the talents and potential to fulfill that problem.

Isaiah Nelson

Nelson, the 2022 Junior World Tremendous-G Champion, is one other Stifel U.S. Ski Workforce member trying to make an influence. Ranked fifty fifth on the FIS GS record, he has competed in 16 World Cup GS races and certified for a second run in Aspen final season, although he didn’t end. He’s nonetheless searching for his first World Cup Begin Listing factors, that are awarded to the highest 15 at World Championships and Olympics. If he can put collectively two stable runs, he may break via in Saalbach.

With 4 U.S. skiers within the area, together with three members of the Stifel U.S. Ski Workforce, Saalbach presents a precious alternative for them to ship robust performances on the World Championships.

Canada’s Illustration within the Saalbach 2025 GS

Erik Learn

Reac will likely be Canada’s sole consultant within the males’s big slalom on the Saalbach 2025 World Championships. The impartial skier, who trains with the World Racing Academy, scored his first GS World Cup factors of the season with a Twentieth-place end in Alta Badia.

A seasoned competitor, Learn has raced in 5 earlier World Championships—2015 (Vail/Beaver Creek), 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2023. His greatest GS outcome got here in St. Moritz 2017, the place he completed Twenty third. A College of Denver graduate, he was a standout collegiate skier earlier than shifting full-time to the World Cup circuit. He additionally certified for 4 straight World Cup Finals from 2020 to 2023, proving his consistency on the highest degree.

With a deep understanding of championship racing and years of expertise, Learn will goal to place collectively his greatest efficiency but in Saalbach.

North American males racing GS

Bib 14, River Radamus, Stifel USST, Ski and Snowboard Membership Vail, SYNC Shields

Bib 29, Erik Learn, CAN World Racing Academy, Banff Alpine Racers, College of Denver, Atomic

Bib 33, Patrick Kenney, USA, World Racing, College of New Hampshire, Burke Mountain Academy, Marker/Völkl, SYNC, SHRED

Bib 34, Isaiah Nelson, Stifel USST, Buck Hill Ski Workforce, SHRED

Bib 40, Bridger Gile, Stifel USST, Ski and Snowboard Membership Vail, HEAD, Oakley, SYNC Shields

How and When to Watch

The downhill run begins at 3:45 a.m. Japanese and 12:45 a.m. Pacific Time, with the slalom run following at 7:15 a.m. Japanese and 4:15 a.m. Pacific Time.

U.S. audiences can watch the race dwell or as a replay on Ski and Snowboard Reside.