Once again on the Men’s World Cup tour, the day belonged to Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt.
However, it was tough to convince the large, boisterous crowd at Palisades Tahoe, who cheered more loudly for U.S. skier River Radamus.
Odermatt took first place Saturday among the field of 59 skiers at the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup, grabbing his 10th consecutive Giant Slalom win by 0.12 seconds and clinching his third straight Men’s World Cup crystal globe.
No one was astonished by the superlative Swiss skier’s latest victory. But a mild surprise was Radamus earning his first podium of his career by finishing in third place. The 26-year-old Colorado skier had the partizan-American crowd cheering wildly during his two aggressive trips down the challenging Red Dog run.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Radamus, who joined the World Cup tour in December 2017. “I’ve wanted to feel what this moment feels like for so long. I’ve just kept working and working and working. Sometimes I thought it would never come.”
Radamus bolted down the 386-meter Red Dog course in 1 minute, 7.26 seconds in the first run, the third-best split. Odermatt, who came into the race leading every season standing except slalom, held a 0.15-second advantage over the second-place finisher, Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, and was 0.78 in front of Radamus heading into the second run.
“I was in a good position, a better position than I think I’ve ever been after a first run,” Radamus said. “I just kept telling myself you can’t go easy. There were 15 guys right on my neck going behind me and two guys I wanted to chase down in front of me, so I had to approach it the same way. Attack it the same way and live with the results regardless.”
Despite getting his first podium, Radamus is no anonymous World Cup skier. He placed fourth in the Giant Slalom at the 2022 Olympics and was one spot off the podium at last year’s World Championships in the Alpine Combined competition. Another almost podium took place in the Adelboden GS on Jan. 6 when once again Radamus finished fourth.
The best part about his first podium – it happened at a U.S. ski resort.
“Doing it on home soil in front of all my friends and family, it just means everything to me,” Radamus said. “It was such an amazing American crowd.”
American teammates Tommy Ford and Patrick Kenney finished in 20th and 24th respectively.
Under sunny skies and in front of a packed and energetic crowd, including the Sierra Swiss Club and the iconic sound of their Swiss cowbells, the world’s top racers from 20 different countries took to the infamous Red Dog run. Red Dog was no easy course, measuring 1,267 feet of vertical descent along 49 gates and several precipitous drops.
The 26-year-old from Odermatt has been so dominant this season that he is assured of taking home the crystal globe for having the most points in the standings, even though there are still 10 of 38 races remaining on the schedule. His Palisades Tahoe victory upped his points total to 1,702, a massive 1,001 lead ahead over No. 2 Manuel Feller (701).
Odermatt has been truly dominant this season and leads the standings in the giant slalom, super-G and downhill.
“At the moment, everything is just perfect. It was very tight today,” Odermatt said.
SLALOM EVENT SUNDAY: The Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup concludes Sunday with the first run of the Slalom scheduled for 10 am, followed by the second one at 1 pm.
“After a tight Giant Slalom race today, we look forward to some fast Slalom runs Sunday,” said Palisades Tahoe spokesperson Patrick Lacey. “We were thrilled to show off some California sunshine during today’s race. We are grateful to our talented course crew and passionate local and traveling fan base that came together to truly bring today’s event to life.”
NBC Sports will once again have live coverage of the Stifel Palisades Tahoe Cup, airing on CNBC and Peacock.
Steve Schlanger will handle play-by-play alongside 1998 Nagano Olympic super-G champion Picabo Street and former U.S. Alpine Ski Team member Steve Porino. Heather Cox will serve as on-site reporter.
For more information on TV broadcasts days and times, click here.
