Bormio calls for man-jets: Casse and Paris for a blue Stelvio
After the Piedmontese’s success in Val Gardena, the two Italians are aiming for more glory days in front of the home crowd in the post-Christmas event on December 28 and 29. The seven-time Bormio ruler: “The Stelvio never leaves you breathless.”
Themost successful athlete on one of the most feared and challenging stages of the white circus, the Stelvio slope, is Italian. Dominik Paris was born in South Tyrol, but he is an honorary citizen of Bormio, and for good reason: the 35-year-old from Val d’Ultimo has managed to tame the 3442-meter-long course with gradients of up to 63 percent seven times, once in Super-G and six times in Downhill, the last of which will be in 2021. After a season start with few lights, on December 28 and 29 “Domme” will want to shine again on one of the slopes he loves most.
“With Bormio, the season really comes into its own: all eyes are on this race, especially since the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympic trials will be held on the Stelvio. I ‘m thinking about it too, I can’t deny it, but first there are other goals to chase,” said themost successful Italian downhill athlete ever.
“I’m looking forward to the Stelvio again: it’s a fantastic slope, a very unique slope. Some people compare it to Kitzbühel, but these are two different challenges: the Streif is spectacular, but the Stelvio requires an even higher degree of concentration, literally from start to finish: a continuous, almost brutal effort, which you feel all when you arrive in the final schuss.”
Along with Mattia Casse, Paris remains the best arrow in the Italian national team’s bow ahead of Bormio, although behind them some signs are starting to come through: “Lately I have had the opportunity to give some advice to Giovanni Franzoni, a boy of great potential as shown with his fourth place in Beaver Creek. He still has room for improvement, especially on jumps and with high speeds.”
The one who will certainly arrive in Valtellina on the wings of enthusiasm is Mattia Casse himself, who after last season’s podiums finally managed to get on the top step with a resounding Super-G run on the Saslong in Val Gardena, and is now aiming to improve on his sixth place in the downhill on the Stelvio last year.
“After the Beijing 2022 Olympic disappointment there has been a turn for the better, culminating in podiums and now this victory. I hope this moment will continue,” Casse recounted, thinking about the long journey that led him to last weekend’s success.“In Bormio it will be a tight and difficult race, not so much because of the interpretation, but because of that difficult, bumpy slope with spectacular traverses and jumps that characterizes the Stelvio.”
Other stars in blue overalls will include Christof Innerhofer and Bormina’s Pietro Zazzi, who is aiming to exalt himself on his home snows.
Awaiting them is a program that will kick off with the two time trials on December 26 and 27, before the big speed show on December 28 with the Downhill and on December 29 with the Super-G.
For more information: https://skiworldcup.bormio.eu/
Bormio (SO), December 23, 2024
