Albert Popov, Bulgarian miracle in Madonna di Campiglio
Albert Popov in triumph
The 3Tre gives the first career success to Bulgarian Albert Popov, Stefano Gross è 21st. An overflowing second run allowed the 27-year-old from home in Sofia to climb up from the eighth place he occupied at the end of the first leg to once again underscore the feeling that binds him to the Canalone Miramonti in Madonna di Campiglio, Trentino.
The best heat reference leads him to the overall time of 1’45″22, which guarantees him a 0″44 advantage over the Swiss Loic Meillard – second at the half – race – and 0″46 over the Croatian Samuel Kolega who thus completes the podium. Before today Popov boasted only one other podium finish, in March 2023 è he was third in Palisades Tahoe.
Fatal error after a few gates in the second run for Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath, leader after the first fraction with a large lead over the competition: at the foot of the podium there’è was then room for Frenchman Steven Amiez with Henrik Kristoffersen fifth to surrender the red leader bib to Meillard.
Stefano Gross è the only Italian to enter the second run and after the 28th half time, he tries to place on the Canalone Miramonti a comeback descent. A plan that seems to succeed to the Fassano, good at interpreting three quarters of the track, but the lines on the final bump are not the best ones and the Fassano leaves precious tenths on the ground. In the end è 21st at 3″06 from Popov.
“It was a heat to attack, to try to have a good downhill to come back up. I finally felt really good and tried to give everything. Unfortunately a mistake happens: with my experience it shouldn’t happen, but maybe a little bit of tiredness affected me. I am very confident for January; I know I can still do well. With this second run I showed that we are starting to see the fruits of the great work we are doing: today we collect little, unfortunately, but I have confidence for the next races”.
The same bump had proved fatal in the first heat to Alex Vinatzer, who ran into a’forked at the end of a good fraction that saw him in line to enter the partial top10. “A’forked a bit; abnormal, too bad – are the words of Vinatzer – I started well, struggled a bit’ on the snow change in the final and went on defense. I keep the good of this run, how I went down in the first gates and now we think about Adelboden, in a few days we already have’another chance”. Not qualified for the second run instead Tobias Kastlunger, Simon Maurberger, Tommaso Saccardi and Corrado Barbera.
As mentioned Meillard with his second place overtakes Kristoffersen at the top of the specialty ranking: 325 points to 315 for the Swiss, with Noel (out in the first) third at 240. Little changes, however, in the overall, led by Marco Odermatt (630) with a 116 lead over Kristoffersen and 236 over Meillard.
Now focus on Adelboden (Switzerland): Saturday, Jan. 11 and Sunday, Jan. 12 are scheduled in the’order slalom and giant slalom, reversed from the usual due to expected weather conditions in the Bernese.
