Christof Innerhofer: Trembling moment before the start of the season

For Innerhofer in particular, the start of the season in downhill and super-G in Val d'Isere marks the end of a long period of suffering. At the end of March 2019, the 35-year-old tore the cruciate ligament in his left knee at the Italian Championships in Cortina d'Ampezzo. Although he took part in two World Cup races last winter (Super-G in Kitzbühel, Downhill in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, 2th place each), he did not risk any further appearances due to his injured status so as not to risk the good start number position.

Now Innerhofer is back. And can hardly wait for it to get started. “Last year it was extremely hard to watch. I really missed the circus with all its events, i.e. the races, the preparation for them, the atmosphere in the finish area, just everything surrounding it. Now I’m happy to be part of the Speed World Cup again.” Training crash in Cervinia causes brief shock Innerhofer has had turbulent days and weeks behind him. And not because he is sick with Covid-19 like Manfred Mölgg. Rather, he fell during downhill training in Cervinia at the beginning of November and bruised his fibula and tibial plateau in his left leg. “It was in the 4th training run, all of which were 1.40:45 minutes long. I probably underestimated the wear and tear of strength. After a jump of around XNUMX meters I landed backwards. There’s no doubt it could have been worse.”

Due to the leg injury, Innerhofer lost 7 days of ski training until November 20th, while he was able to fully complete his fitness training, especially on the bike. Most recently he was back on the snow in Cervinia and Sulden. In Sulden, Gaiser trained on the Madritschjoch together with Hannes Reichelt, then another two days of giant slalom on the Kanzel piste in the valley. His most important insight: “Despite the difficult conditions, I had no problems with overcoming it, I gave full throttle despite poor visibility and a difficult slope.” That's why he is confident: “I'm doing well. I'm not at 2 percent yet, but the most important thing is that I hardly feel any pain while driving. I'm currently having more pains in my back again, but that probably also has something to do with my age.”

“I expect a lot, especially on the descent” Christof Innerhofer is looking forward to the start of the season. © av

Before traveling to Val d'Isere, Innerhofer underwent the mandatory corona PCR test in Bruneck. His expectations for the start of the season? “The most important thing is that I remain negative in the corona tests. My feeling is okay, I expect a lot, especially on the descent. In the Super-G, however, I still lack consistency. Some corners are great, but then mistakes keep creeping in.” Innerhofer has his sights set on a top 10 spot He doesn't care that the speed races in Val d'Isere are held on the less demanding OK piste and not on the infamous Face de Bellevarde: "Four years ago I came 4th in the downhill run on the OK piste, in the super G I was eliminated after a few goals. I hope that I can make the most of the two training sessions on Thursday and Friday to get into the racing rhythm. In the downhill I'm expecting a place around the top 16. It’s difficult to make predictions in Super-G.”

Innerhofer's skiman, Ales Kalamar, is already in France to get his downhill skis in good shape. “I'm driving a new model that I tried out in several training sessions last year. It is less aggressive and should be just right for Val d'Isere and especially for the expected soft snow.”

Especially since Innerhofer's weight is likely to be at a disadvantage compared to many of his competitors. He currently only weighs 86 kg. For comparison: teammate Dominik Paris scratches the 100 mark. An invaluable advantage for the Ultner, especially on gliding passages. “I trained almost 7000 km on the racing bike this year. That took a lot of energy and now I'm having an extremely difficult time gaining weight. I eat a lot, but I hardly gain any weight. The last time I was this light was in the 2012/13 season, when I won three races. Maybe that’s a good omen.”

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Christof Innerhofer: Trembling moment before the start of the season

The giant slalomists already have 4 races under their belt. In addition to the slalom skiers, the speed specialists are still in the starting blocks. With them the great South Tyrolean figureheads Dominik Paris and Christof Innerhofer.

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