Croatian skier Istok Rodeš, who will celebrate his 23rd birthday in late January, took great advantage of his first run where he was ranked in the top 30 and secured the second run in which he exploded for seventh place.
"I think I'm in great shape and I'm pleased with Sljeme," said 22-year-old Istok Rodeš from Varaždin who won the seventh place in the World Cup slalom, which is currently taking place in the Italian Madonna di Campiglio, reports Gol.hr on December 22, 2018.
And did we mention that Rodeš had a start number of 66 in the first run, making this feat all the more impressive?
The success of Croatian skiers was completed by Matej Vidović, who won the 18th place and also achieved the best result in the competition for the World Cup.
Rodeš’ seventh place is the second best result of Croatian skiers in Madonna di Campiglio, where Ivica Kostelić was the winner in 2003 and won seventh place in 2005. Also, this is the first Croatian top 10 in the slalom since Ivić's 10th place at the finals of the World Cup in Lenzerheide back in 2014.
“A super race. I’m very pleased. Today, everything has fallen into place,” said the 2016 World junior champion in the slalom.
Specialists for technical disciplines will now have a brief pause. In Oslo, on January 1, a parallel slalom will run, while the next classic slalom will take place at Sljeme’s Red Slope in Zagreb next month for the Snow Queen Trophy.
Saturday’s success, as well as the excellent results at the last European Cup races, have helped Croatian skiers receive better start numbers for the Sljeme race.
Matej Vidović will perform for the first time at the Snow Queen in the first 30, Istok Rodeš will have a start number of around 40, Elias Kolega 43, and Filip Zubčić around 58.
The skiers will compete for points on Sljeme in Zagreb on January 6. The first run will begin at 12:15 and the second at 15:30. The day before, female skiers will take the slopes, with the first run at 13:00 and the second at 16:00.
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