Swiss success on the European Cup downhill races

At the start of the day, it was not certain that the two European Cup downhill races would be held on the same day. The snow that had fallen on the course during the night required a lot of work early this morning, and the weather conditions for the day remained uncertain. Fortunately, the two races were able to take place as planned, despite slight time delays to ensure optimal safety on the Nationale slope.

The first downhill race went to Livio Hiltbrand, who won ahead of five of his teammates. Behind the junior world downhill champion in 2024 in Châtel came Sandro Manser (2), Gael Zulauf (3), Marco Kohler (4), Lenz Haechler (5) and Christophe Torrent (6). A Swiss six-way victory that shows that our national team has a solid pool of athletes.

A few hours later, the second downhill race started on a shortened course with the finish line at Plat des Houlès. This time it was a competitor from the Valais who came out on top. Christophe Torrent climbed to the top of the podium, three hundredths of a second ahead of the Italian Nicolo Molteni. Third place went to Marco Kohler, who has thus achieved three top five finishes in three races this week.

Young Sandro Manser, born in 2005 in the canton of Schwyz, put in two top performances on this day of racing. He achieved two top-five finishes and at the same time won the two trophies for best young rider (U-21). His second place in the first downhill of the day allowed him to celebrate his first podium in the European Cup.

The European Cup events in Crans-Montana are therefore coming to an end. All the teams are now preparing for the arrival of the World Cup circuit next week for the downhill on Saturday 22 and the super-G on Sunday 23 February.