The story behind the British sensational winner

Completely surprisingly, the 35-year-old won the slalom classic in Kitzbühel. On Saturday, in thick snow, he drove to the first victory of a Brit in the Alpine World Cup - and in one of the most prestigious races of all. The fact that he also benefited from a number of failures in the second round of this sensation could not diminish Ryding's joy. And that didn't stop the competition from congratulating the popular Brit. Everyone was happy for him.

Ryding made his World Cup debut in December 2009 and has since made it to the podium four times. In 2017 he was second in Kitzbühel. The slalom specialist lives near Liverpool. As a child, he occasionally went on skiing holidays with his parents in the French Alps, otherwise on an artificial slope made of plastic bristles in the north-west of England - barely more than 100 meters long and without snow. He didn't compete in his first competitions until he was 13, as he recently reported. The Liverpool FC fan later traveled to the training camps in the Alps in his parents' rickety caravan.

Ryding will compete in the Winter Olympics for the fourth time in China in February. It is quite possible that he will improve on his ninth place from Pyeongchang 2018. “When I was 13, I moved out into the world to ski.” Dave Ryding, a passionate Liverpool FC fan “When I was 13, I went out into the world to ski,” the 35-year-old once recalled. “It was a shock at the beginning, it was a long road.” This reached its climax on Saturday in the ski mecca of Kitzbühel. And sent a signal to his homeland that could mean: Even boys who learn to ski on plastic mats under the supervision of their father can one day win a World Cup race. Ryding finishes with 35 Although this can sometimes take time. “I never stopped fighting,” said the exotic skier supposedly known as “Rocket Ryding”. “I always believed I could do it, but my (remaining) races became fewer and fewer and doubts are always there.”

In moments like this, his support team “pushed” him, said Ryding, “sometimes more than I would have liked.” His family and fiancée Mandy, with whom he opened a “café house” in Tarleton, near Blackburn, in the summer of 2019, also support him at all times. “Although I’m not always the easiest to deal with.”

Touched and proud, Ryding gave himself a certificate on Saturday: “I guess there is still life in this old dog.” The (late) victory meant the world to him. Only one other man from the British Isles has ever climbed a World Cup podium alongside him: a good 40 years ago, Konrad Bartelski came second in a downhill run in Val Gardena. “I guess there’s still life in this old dog.” Dave Ryding Last but not least, the World Ski Association was happy about important headlines with the sensational victory of the 82nd Hahnenkamm edition, as Michel Vion, the Secretary General of the FIS, explained. “It’s perfect for alpine sports, the UK is important for us in terms of marketing and interest.”

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The story behind the British sensational winner

Dave Ryding himself found the little skiing fairytale he experienced on the legendary Ganslern slope “simply unbelievable”. His story is special.

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