Alex Vinatzer explains Levi's debacle

No wonder: Alex Vinatzer, Tobias Kastlunger, Stefano Gross and Tommaso Sala are looking for revenge after the team's failure last Sunday in Levi. "That was a really bad performance from us," Alex Vinatzer sums it up, "we don't need to sugarcoat anything, it was nothing. Right at the top of the flat there were big time gaps. We need to work on that."

The Italian slalom skiers caused an almost historic zero result in Levi: you have to go back to January 2002 (slalom in Adelboden) to see the same zero result for the Azzurri. Even the extremely slippery slope could not be used as an excuse. The fatal mistake of Alex Vinatzer in Levi. © M. Trovati / Pentaphoto

Alex Vinatzer: "It looked more brutal than it was to ride. I managed the ice track well, others had more problems with the grip. I managed a stable ride at first, and I also mastered the flat section well. I was doing well until I was eliminated, and I kept up well in the top flat section. But none of that is of any use if you don't make it to the finish. It's a shame that I crossed my skis. Maybe I would have gotten out of it somehow if the next gate hadn't been a hairpin. But as it was, it was over quickly."

Short rest at home Vinatzer returned home on Monday and after two days of rest he will train on the Schnalstal Glacier tomorrow and Friday in preparation for the Gurgl Slalom. Extreme conditions await the riders on Sunday: temperatures of up to minus 2 degrees or even colder are forecast. Vinatzer: "In Levi it was extremely wet at first, then it got cold and that's why the slope was like an ice rink. Here in Gurgl the snow will be much drier, so it will have better grip but also be more aggressive."

While Vinatzer, Sala, Gross and Tobias Kastlunger, who missed the second run by just 0,08 seconds, are all set for Sunday's slalom, the Azzurri's fifth has yet to be nominated by head coach Max Carca. The problem: on Saturday and Sunday, just one week after the World Cup in Levi, there are two European Cup slaloms. Valuable points are to be collected there. Just like Simon Maurberger will do. For the Ahrntal native, a return to the World Cup will probably only be an issue at the home race in Alta Badia on December 2rd.

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Alex Vinatzer explains Levi's debacle

When the Ski World Cup stops in Hochgurgl in the remotest Ötztal valley in Tyrol for the second time after 2 this weekend, some angry Azzurri will also be at the start.

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