A blow to the left knee could have raised doubts, Odermatt dispelled it brilliantly.
The Swiss, who had skipped the second downhill in Kitzbühel last weekend and the giant slalom in Schladming on Wednesday, did not give details ten days before the start of the 2023 World Championships in Courchevel / Meribel.
He signed his seventh victory of the season, the third in super-G, with 35/100th ahead of Kilde, leader of the specialty World Cup at the start of the day, and 49/100th over the Italian Mattia Broken.
Starting with bib N.14, the winner of the 2021-22 World Cup made the difference in the second third of the course, negotiating a series of curves as well as possible which trapped many competitors among the first starters.
Swiss Marco Odermat, winner of the Cortina super-G, January 28, 2023 © Marco BERTORELLO / AFP
He now totals 1,286 points, 213 more than Kilde (2nd, 1,073 pts) and 507 better than another Norwegian, Henrik Kristoffersen, specialist in slalom and giant (3rd, 779 pts).
Better still, "Odi" dislodged Kilde from first place in the Super-G World Cup, which is sure to annoy the Norwegian who remains at the top of the world downhill rankings.
"It's a very special victory," assured Odermatt.
"I really felt during the race that I had been out for a long time, it was like I had lost confidence in my body".
For the French men's team, limited to five podiums this winter, the best result of the day came from Cyprien Sarrazin: left with bib N.34, the giantist more and more comfortable in speed events finished in 8th place, 91/100th from the winner of the day.
Alexis Pinturault was ranked 12th, 1 sec 09/100th from Odermatt.
Frenchman Cyprien Sarrazin during the super-G in Cortina, January 28, 2023 © Marco BERTORELLO / AFP
The Cortina stage, which was not on the initial program of the Men's World Cup and which replaces that of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Germany), canceled due to lack of snow, ends on Sunday with a second super-G.
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© 2023 AFP