The new World Cup winter kicks off in Sölden in a month's time. According to giant slalom head coach Helmut Krug, the signs in the Swiss team are promising - and not just because of Marco Odermatt.
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- On October 27, the men start the new season with the giant slalom in Sölden.
- Giant slalom head coach Helmut Krug is very satisfied with how preparations have gone so far. "In contrast to other years, we haven't lost a single day of training in Argentina and Chile," says Krug.
- It's not just Odermatt who is setting best times in the training sessions, as Krug reports: "Gino Caviezel is setting very strong times after switching from Dynastar to Atomic."
The ski stars still have four weeks until the start of the new World Cup season. The starting shot for the men will be fired on October 27 with the giant slalom in Sölden - with Marco Odermatt as the big hunted. Last winter, the man from Nidwalden won 9 of the 10 races in this discipline.
After the impressive last season, however, Odermatt loses his fitness coach Kurt Kothbauer, who urges a separation after seven years of close cooperation. "From my point of view, I got the best out of Marco. I don't know how I could make him any better," says the 56-year-old, explaining his decision.
While Kothbauer is now working with the returning Lucas Braathen and Marcel Hirscher, Odermatt is now working with Alejo Hervas. The Spaniard coached Lara Gut-Behrami until last season and caused trouble for the Ticino native with his switch to the Swiss men.
New best results for Odermatt
The new impetus in the coaching team has clearly already paid off for Odermatt. In the strength and endurance tests, the man from Nidwalden recently beat his best mark from the summer of 2023 by around three percent. "Kothbauer Kurti has laid a fantastic foundation in Marco's strength and conditioning over the last few years. Now Alejo is getting a bit more out of Odi with new input," says giant slalom head coach Helmut Krug to Blick.
In any case, Krug is highly satisfied with the way preparations for the World Cup winter have gone so far. The conditions on the glacier in Saas-Fee have been ideal, and the weather in South America has been very lucky: "In contrast to other years, we haven't lost a single day of training in Argentina and Chile."
Krug also reveals that, from a Swiss perspective, it's not just Odermatt's training times that are promising. "Gino Caviezel is setting very strong times after switching from Dynastar to Atomic. Thomas Tumler has also been in very good shape in recent weeks," says the giant slalom coach, who also has a fourth trump card in his team in Loic Meillard. The start of the season in Sölden can come.
