The Giant Slalom race on the Rettenbach Glacier in Sölden, Austria traditionally marks the start of the alpine World Cup season.
This year, Italian Marta Bassino was the undisputed star of the event – dominating both runs, she claimed her 2nd World Cup victory and set expectations really high for the rest of the season. The only skier to come even close Marta’s time was her teammate Federica Brignone, last year’s Overall winner, while the rest of the field finished more than a second behind.
“I was skiing very well in training, so I tried to ski like that today too,” Bassino said in the finish zone, “it came naturally, and that’s why I’m so proud.”
With a season filled with doubts, Marta’s victory gave Salomon’s team one certainty – all the hard work, the detailed development of the material, all the testing done over the past years has paid off and there is no doubt that the material used by the athletes is among the fastest in the world.
Further confirmation of how well the material works came only a day later, when young Swiss skier Marco Odermatt rocked the Soelden slope with his S/Race ski boots to claim 2nd place, missing the top of the podium by a mere 0.05 seconds!
"There is no bigger reward for the team than to see athletes being in tune with the equipment and maximizing its power and speed,” Sylvain Leandre, Salomon International Alpine Racing Manager said after the race.
"We spent countless hours and training sessions developing, tweaking and testing different aspects of the material. To see it all come together on the big stage in Soelden, to see our athletes claim back-to-back podiums this early in the season gives me great hope of what’s to come,” he added with pride.
The World Cup season continues next month in Lech / Zuers, Austria, with a women’s Parallel on November 13th and a men’s Parallel on November 14th.
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