Just before Christmas, the world's best ski racers were guests in Val Gardena/Gröden for the 57th time for the speed classic on the Saslong. As usual, two races were on the program: a super-G on Friday and the legendary downhill classic on Saturday.

Val Gardena/Gröden once again showcased its finest on the final weekend before Christmas. Nestled in a winter wonderland of deep snow, the valley in the heart of the Dolomites provided a stunning and fitting backdrop for the two World Cup races.

The experienced team of the Saslong Classic Club, led by President Rainer Senoner, delivered flawless organization and left nothing to chance during the race week. In keeping with the motto “Passion & Performance”, the volunteers ensured that everything ran smoothly and that conditions were perfect, both on and off the slopes. The athletes on the slopes, the enthusiastic spectators on site and the many ski fans watching on screens around the world were treated to a thoroughly successful World Cup week.

Casse and Crawford lead the way in training
The 57th edition of the Saslong Classic was officially opened with the first downhill training on Tuesday. In picture-perfect weather, Italian Mattia Casse set the fastest time. Reigning overall World Cup winner Marco Odermatt came in second place behind the fastest training skier. Third place went to Austrian Romed Baumann, who has been competing for Germany for many years.

In the dress rehearsal for the downhill classic on Wednesday, James Crawford achieved the best time. One day after his impressive performance in the first training session, Casse also did well in the second training run and finished second. The top three was completed by Switzerland's Stefan Rogentin.

First victory in the Super-G

After Thursday's rest day, Friday's super-G was the first real test. However, the weather caused major problems in the run-up to the race: with around 25 centimetres of fresh snow falling during the night, the course crew had to work for hours to clear the track of the masses of snow. But the team around course director Horst Demetz once again did an extraordinary job and, with great effort, were able to prepare a course that allowed a super-G to take place under fair conditions.

The super-G ended with a premiere: Mattia Casse was able to handle the very challenging course best after all the fresh snow and won by a hair's breadth ahead of the US American Jared Goldberg (+0.01 seconds). The Swiss exceptional talent Marco Odermatt took third place.

Italy's speed racers put in a strong team performance in front of their home crowd. In addition to the day's winner Casse, Dominik Paris (tenth place) also made it into the top ten. Pietro Zazzi came in just behind him in eleventh place, with Nicolò Molteni (16th) and Giovanni Franzoni (30th) two more “Azzurri” to make it into the points.

Odermatt wins for the first time in Val Gardena/Gröden

Marco Odermatt took victory in the classic downhill race on Saturday, the highlight of the Val Gardena/Gröden race week. The Swiss athlete raced flawlessly from start to finish for his first triumph at the foot of the Sassolungo. Behind Odermatt, sensation-maker Franjo von Allmen made a Swiss one-two victory perfect. The US skier Ryan Cochran-Siegle, who is traditionally strong on the Saslong, completed the podium in third place.

Italy's speed athletes were unable to match their strong performances in the super-G in the downhill. One day after his victory, Mattia Casse was again the fastest “Azzurro” - however, the 34-year-old did not finish higher than 14th place.

Odermatt wins the Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy
With third place in Friday's super-G and a victory in Saturday's downhill classic, Odermatt emerged as the top-scoring racer of this year's Val Gardena/Gröden race week. The all-rounder collected a total of 160 points in the two races taking home the Val Gardena Südtirol Ski Trophy and leaving super-G winner Casse, who scored 118 points, behind.