A feat by the Italian Giovanni Franzoni who won the most prestigious downhill race in the world on the Kitzbuehel Streif. It is the second world cup victory for the 24-year-old from Brescia after his week-long success in the super-G in Wengen. Franzoni, with a time of 1.52.31, precedes the Swiss Marco Odermatt (1.52.38) on the podium and the French Maxence Muzaton (1.52.70) who came down with bib number 29 and took third place away from Florian Schieder (1.52.98). Then among the best Italians – with a great team effort on the eve of the Olympics – there are Dominik Paris seventh and Mattia Casse eleventh.
“Happy and moved.” Victory dedicated to his friend Matteo Franzoso
The first thought of a moved Giovanni Franzoni, winner of the Kitzbuhel free climb, was once again for his great friend and teammate Matteo Franzoso who passed away last summer following a dramatic fall during training in Chile. “Today was a bit of a special day, at the start I had Matteo in mind – he told Rai microphones – because last year we were in the room together and it was my first time here”. «I was super pumped for the descent, I knew it wasn’t easy at all because Odermatt has never won here and the Swiss were all overloaded – he continued, speaking of the Swiss who came second by 7 hundredths -. After the super-G I was super motivated, I wanted to do everything I could, in the first part I struggled a bit, then I really skied like crazy.” Franzoni, who dominated both tests of the downhill, is the fourth Italian to win on the Streif after Kristian Ghedina in 1998, Dominik Paris three times in 2013, 2017 and 2019 and Peter Fill in 2016.