In the very last race

ÖSV-Herr gives up the World Cup fixed ticket

For a long time, Noel Zwischenbrugger had been heading for a fixed World Cup ticket.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Bitter! Until the very last race, Vorarlberg's Noel Zwischenbrugger was on course for the podium in the giant slalom European Cup. In the end, however, the 22-year-old was 28 points short of the coveted World Cup fixed ticket. But even though the disappointment was great, the Mellau native also saw some positives.

So far, the European Cup final in Norway has not been under a good star from the Ländle perspective - apart from Victoria Olivier's fourth place in the giant slalom. "In terms of skiing, that was five classes worse than I'm capable of," said an annoyed Jakob Greber after only finishing 37th and second last in the slalom. Moritz Zudrell was fast, but had such an unfortunate fall that he had to withdraw from yesterday's giant slalom in Hafjell with a sore head and hip.

The final in Norway ended painfully for Moritz Zudrell (l.) and disappointingly for Jakob Greber (r.).

(Bild: GEPA Pictures Krone KREATIV,)

Improvement was not enough
A race that ended in bitter disappointment for Noel Zwischenbrugger. The 22-year-old had started in third place in the RTL rankings and thus had it in his own hands to secure a permanent ticket for the 2024/25 World Cup season. However, as in the recent races in Trysil, the Mellau native struggled to show his best skiing. He was able to improve from 18th place to eleventh in the final - but that was not enough. In the end, the Atomic pilot only managed fifth place in the overall standings. He was just 28 points off the top three. "Of course I was very disappointed at first," said Noel. "But with a bit of distance, I have to say that the season wasn't bad, the path is right and I can look forward."