Pinheiro Braathen drives away from everyone – Odermatt, Meillard and Tumler first in pursuit

On Monday, Odermatt was still cheering Meillard on in the finish area in Bormio, hoping that he would get down the slope as quickly as possible. Things will be different on Saturday. After winning silver in the team combined as “Switzerland 1”, they will once again be competing directly against each other in the giant slalom.

“We said to each other on the podium after the team combined that it would be nice to be here together again in the ‘giant’,” said Meillard at the media meeting in the team hotel. However, when asked in which order, the 29-year-old did not let himself out on the branches. One thing is clear: In a broad field, both are not only among the medal contenders, but also among the contenders for victory. Odermatt has won three of the seven World Cup giant slaloms this season, Meillard two.

Meillard won the last race at the end of January in Schladming by a large margin. He has thus jumped up to third place in the discipline World Cup, ahead of Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who competes for Brazil and has recently finished second three times in a row, and leader Odermatt.

Stefan Brennsteiner and Marco Schwarz from Austria and the Norwegians Henrik Kristoffersen and Atle Lie McGrath are also among the podium candidates in Bormio. The other Swiss skiers Thomas Tumler and Luca Aerni have more of an outside chance.