Alpine skiing-Franzoni dedicates his first win in Wengen to late friend Franzoso
WENGEN, Switzerland, Jan 16 : Italy's Giovanni Franzoni dedicated his first World Cup win to late teammate Matteo Franzoso after leading a super-G on Wengen's famed Lauberhorn piste from start to finish on Friday.
The surprise victory was the first of the Alpine ski season for the Italian men's team and came a matter of weeks before the start of the Milano Cortina Olympics on home snow.
The 24-year-old was first out of the start hut with bib number one on a crisp and sunny morning and stayed top as others failed to come close to his benchmark time of one minute 45.19 seconds.
Austria's Stefan Babinsky was second, 0.35 slower after starting fourth, with home Swiss hope Franjo von Allmen third and 0.37 off the pace.
"It's always on my mind and I try to remember always," Franzoni said of Franzoso, the 25-year-old downhiller and former roommate who died last September after a fall in training in Chile.
"I dedicated my first podium to him and also this victory. I said at the beginning of the season that I would be skiing with him all my life so it will be like this.
"I think also this tragedy gives me the strength to approach this World Cup season."
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, the overall World Cup and super-G leader as well as a big medal favourite for next month's Milano Cortina Olympics, could manage only fourth from 12th on the starting list.
The podium was Franzoni's career second, after finishing third in a Val Gardena super-G in December, and with the Olympics looming indicated the Italian was coming good at just the right time.
Teammates Dominik Paris, Guglielmo Bosca and Marco Abbruzzese all failed to finish Friday's race, the fifth super-G of the season.
The Italian women's team have had one win so far this season with Sofia Goggia, also in super-G.
Franzoni had been quick in training but Wengen held mixed emotions - the piste where he crashed at the sharp Canadian Corner in 2023 and had a serious injury but also the one where he scored his first World Cup super-G points.
"With bib number one I had a lot of pressure but I tried just to enjoy the race," he said. "Yeah, I was fast.
"Opening this legendary slope with this massive crowd is always unbelievable. I prefer to watch some guys before me, to try to understand the slope better..."
Austrian Marco Schwarz, winner of the previous super-G on Italian snow in Livigno, did not start the race after suffering from flu and returning home.
Odermatt remained comfortably ahead in the super-G standings with 325 points, 94 clear of Austrian Vincent Kriechmayr who was 12th on Friday. Franzoni is third overall, 107 off the lead.
"I did not have the perfect run and if you are not skiing perfect on that level you cannot win the race," said Odermatt, who lost the line and speed into the lower part. "Without those mistakes I am happy with my skiing.
"I saw his (Franzoni's) run at the start and I already said 'Wow, that is the victory today'. And I was right."
