Home race on the Arlberg

ÖSV speed lady becomes a road sweeper on Sunday

Ariane Rädler can count on a lot of support from home this weekend.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

The World Cup weekend in St. Anton am Arlberg is a real home race for Vorarlberg's speed armada around Ariane Rädler and Nina Ortlieb. The expectations are correspondingly high, as is the support, which was already noticeable during the first training session on the "Karl Schranz" slope.

"I think that Möggers will be pretty empty on Sunday," laughed Ariane Rädler after she finished 12th in the first training session for the World Cup downhill in St. Anton at the same time as Mirjam Puchner, 3.12 seconds behind an unleashed Federica Brignone, and was already being celebrated by the first fans from home. "St. Anton is definitely my home race, at no other World Cup venue do so many people come to watch me."

Group coach Christoph Alster during the inspection of the "Karl Schranz" downhill run with the skier Ariane Rädler.(Bild: GEPA)

Waiving the home sleeper bonus
More home races are not possible? Nina Ortlieb and Magdalena Egger, two members of the Ski Club Arlberg, are also competing on the "Karl Schranz" slope this weekend. "It's so nice to be able to ski here, I don't even know what to say," confessed Egger - 31st on Thursday (+4.52) - whose ticket contingent for friends and acquaintances has long been exhausted. "Luckily I got a few tickets from one or two of my colleagues."

However, unlike two years ago when the 23-year-old sensationally finished second in the European Cup downhill, she won't be sleeping at home in Lech, but at the "Schwarzer Adler" team hotel in St. Anton. "That makes sense, as it saves us an hour's drive every day," says Ortlieb, who was still visibly struggling with the changeable conditions in the first training session, finishing 4.84 seconds behind Brignone in 34th place and hoping that the piste will improve before the downhill on Saturday and the super-G at the weekend.

Nina Ortlieb struggled in the first training run.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

The conditions put a massive strain on the runner-up.(Bild: Christof Birbaumer)

Magdalena Egger from Lech showed an ambitious first training run and wants to improve further.(Bild: GEPA)

Michelle Niederwieser was disqualified after a gate error.(Bild: GEPA)

Like Egger, Niederwieser has to go into the downhill qualifiers
Michelle Niederwieser was disqualified yesterday due to a gate error and hopes that the second training session planned for today will not fall victim to the snowfall that has been forecast. Because, like Egger, she also has to fight for a downhill ticket in the team's internal qualification.