This year, the DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy will be awarded for the second time at the Saslong Classic. The prestigious special prize goes to the athlete who scores the most World Cup points in the two speed events on the Saslong.

After the super-G, it looks like it there might be a title defense of the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde at the DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy. The 29-year-old already won the coveted trophy last year and after his victory in the Super-G is once again in the lead. Since Kilde is also one of the favorites to win downhill classic on Saturday, it will be anything but easy for the competition to knock him off his perch.

In addition to Kilde, the Austrians Matthias Mayer and Vincent Kriechmayr are also in the running with second and third place, respectively. Mayer, in particular, can be expected to do well in the downhill - the Carinthian is tackling the classic on Saturday on the back of a victory and a second place in the two downhill races so far this winter.

In addition to the top three, Switzerland's Beat Feuz (4th), local favorite Dominik Paris (6th), Austria's Max Franz (7th) and American Ryan Cochran-Siegle (8th) also have good odd in the battle for overall victory in the speed events on the Saslong. All four racers scored decent points on Friday - and that despite the fact that their strengths lie more in the downhill than in the super-G.

A lot of prestige & extra prize money
The DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy is a special prize designed to add prestige to the classics on the Saslong. The winner of the trophy can look forward to an original 3D wooden bust, as well as additional prize money of Euros 5.000 and a short vacation. If two racers are tied on points after the super-G and downhill, the skier with the better placing in one of the two races will prevail. If there is also a tie, then the better result in the downhill will decide the winner.

The idea of the special prize was developed by the Organizing Committee of the Saslong Classic in collaboration with DOLOMITES Val Gardena Marketing. The trophy emerged from the South Tyrol Ski Trophy, which was awarded from 2016 to 2019. The original 3D wooden busts of the winning racers will be on public display in the "Hall of Fame" at the Saslonch Hut following the Val Gardena/Gröden race week.

DOLOMITES Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy - Intermediate standings after the super-G:
1st Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR) 100 points
2nd Matthias Mayer (AUT) 80
3rd Vincent Kriechmayr (AUT) 60
4th Beat Feuz (SUI) 50
5th Stefan Rogentin (SUI) 45
6th Dominik Paris (ITA/Ulten) 40

21st Guglielmo Bosca (ITA) 10
23rd Mattia Casse (ITA) 8
28th Christof Innerhofer (ITA/Gais) 3