Pinturault
In the coming season, an equal number of speed and technique competitions will be held in the Ski World Cup. Still, Alexis Pinturault doesn't think it's fair.
The French overall World Cup winner starts the new season on Sunday with the traditional glacier prelude in Sölden. A giant slalom is on the program on the Rettenbachferner – the first of 18 technology races. 18 speed competitions will follow by March.
Nevertheless, the French ski star is anything but happy with the design of the new calendar. In contrast to the women, where there are nine races per discipline, the men’s World Cup consists of eleven downhill runs, seven super-Gs, eight giant slalom runs and ten slaloms.
“It's not a hundred percent fair, it would only be if you had nine races in each discipline,” said Pinturault. Instead, the 30-year-old Frenchman suggested a real World Cup revolution: “It would be an interesting thought to have two prank results like in the biathlon.” Then, for example, only the best results would be considered, failures would not be so important.
Of course, this is a long way off. The present is the Olympic season. And it starts on Sunday. And with the changed calendar, Pinturault offers new possibilities. “In Beaver Creek we used to go downhill, super-G and giant slalom. If you wanted to compete in super-G, you also did the downhill training beforehand. At the same time, you weren't allowed to neglect the giant slalom,” explained the Frenchman. He now has this appointment stress less often.
However, Pinturault emphasized that the overall World Cup is primarily about versatility. “It's about more than just driving one discipline. That would be a disaster, then the overall World Cup would lose value,” said the 30-year-old.
By winning the large crystal ball, however, Pinturault has already achieved one of his greatest goals in the past season. “I still want to be fast, win races. But I might see it a little differently now. I don't know whether it will be easier to win the overall World Cup. You always have to be ready to give your best. And the race for Race, “added the French.
Who switched off after his greatest triumph to date. “I really had to get away from skiing, from the whole situation, after two years without a real vacation because you couldn't travel properly last year, the holidays were important,” said Pinturault. In this way he recharged his batteries for a long Olympic season. With many new goals …
