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Marco Odermatt in Schladming

Photo: Erwin Scheriau/dpa

The Swiss Marco Odermatt remains the measure of all things in the giant slalom.

The 26-year-old ski racer won the night race in Schladming, Austria on Tuesday ahead of the Austrian Manuel Feller, who was only 0.05 seconds behind.

The Slovenian Žan Kranjec came third (+0.29).

Odermatt's success was no longer to be expected after a botched first round.

The two-time overall World Cup winner made a big mistake, almost went off the track and only finished eleventh.

An unusual result for the high-flyer, who made it onto the podium in the downhills in Kitzbühel on Friday and Saturday, but missed out on the victories.

Odermatt turns up the heat

That shouldn't happen to Odermatt on Tuesday: In the final round in Schladming, Odermatt turned up the heat in his usual manner.

He drove squeaky clean and aggressively, made hardly any mistakes and took the lead.

Afterwards, ten drivers fought their teeth against his time.

The only person who came particularly close to him was Feller, who once again experienced a bitter evening.

Only on Sunday did the Austrian narrowly miss the podium in the slalom in Kitzbühel, finishing fourth.

“You dog!” Feller shouted at Odermatt at the finish.

For the World Cup dominator it was the eighth victory in a row in his specialist discipline.

To date, a longer series of successes in giant slalom in the World Cup has only been achieved by veteran Swedish star Ingemar Stenmark, who won 14 giant slalom races in a row from 1978 to 1980.

“Sorry to Austria, but I’m happy to accept that,” said Odermatt.

Alexander Schmid from Germany came in eleventh place.

The parallel world champion is still fighting for top form after his cruciate ligament tear.

Former World Cup winner Stefan Luitz (57th) missed the final of the best 30 riders, as did Fabian Gratz (31st), Anton Grammel (44th) and Jonas Stockinger (55th).

On Wednesday (1st round: 5.45 p.m., 2nd round: 8.45 p.m. / TV: BR and Eurosport) there is another slalom in Schladming.

Odermatt won't be at the start, but Feller will be.

As did Kitzbühel winner Linus Straßer.

The Munich native won in Schladming in 2022 and is once again one of the favorites.

kjo/sid/dpa