Felix Neureuther receives surprisingly prominent support at the start of the Olympic season. In addition to the German alpine star, the long injured Fritz Dopfer will also be competing in the World Cup slalom on Sunday (10/13 CET at LIVETICKER) in Levi, Finland.
“Secretly, I’ve been flirting with a comeback in Levi for the past few months. I’m all the more pleased that this is now possible,”said the Garmischer.
Dopfer (30), World Cup runner-up 2015, has not contested a World Cup race since Levi in November 2016 after a fracture of the tibia and fibula:”Especially in the last few weeks a lot of things have turned to the positive and I feel physically and mentally ready for the start,” he said:”I still lack constancy to deliver good runs in series, but for me it’s still up to date.
Neureuther is looking forward to “finally starting the season”after the weather-related cancellation of the traditional opening in Sölden. On the rather simple race slope in Levi, he said,”you have to attack” extremely to be fast. You have to move at the absolute limit,”he said. But he feels “fit and well prepared”, said the Partenkirchner (33), who leads the eight-member line-up.
The women’s team, which is already competing in the first slalom of the season on Saturday (10/13 CET at LIVETICKER) has to do without Christina Geiger. The currently best German slalom rider has survived her pneumonia, but the competition load comes too early for her. Marlene Schmotz (cross ligament tear) is also missing. The four-man squad is headed by Marina Wallner (Inzell) and Lena Dürr (Germering).