where to see them on TV, calendar and times of the races – Corriere.it

Still having Mikaela Shiffrin’s surprising defeat in «her» slalom in her eyes, the World Ski Championship number 47 staged the last race. Between rapid gates it is now the males’ turn, on the Courchevel Éclipse. At the top of the WCSL rankings that define the ranking in each specialty there are two Norwegians: the now 28-year-old Henrik Kristoffersen
and the «millennial» (born in April 2000) Lucas Braathen.

The latter, of Brazilian origins, was very unlucky: in early February, before the World Cup slalom in Chamonix, he was hit by an attack of appendicitis and went under the knife urgently. He should have competed – with the possibility of being a tough opponent for Marco Odermatt, who became champion – also in giant, but he couldn’t recover. So the test between the rapid gates marks his debut in the Savoy event and gives him only one chance to aim for the podium. Will he be in a position to challenge his compatriot and the others? Difficult to say, but if he is present he cannot fail to be included in the favorites list.

A long list, why between leading men and outsiders in the slalom there are about twenty who can impose themselves: therefore in addition to the Norwegians (who also line up Foss-Solevaag, the champion of Cortina 2021 who however is not in a great moment), watch out for the Swiss squadron (Yule and Meillard first of all, but also Zenhaeusern who returned to success right in Chamonix). Austrians who have to cancel the zero in the gold item of the medal table (Schwarz, Feller, Pertl and Gstrein will try to hide the fact that Hirscher is no longer there), the French who play at home (together with Pinturaultwho lives in Courchevel, cannot but be considered Noel, even if lately he has been fluctuating and below his value), the Swedes, the eternal Englishman Ryding, the German Strasser and maybe, why not?, the Greek – American Ginnis who on February 4 was preceded only by Zenhaeusern and gave Greece its first podium in the World Cup.

It’s Italy? Send the super-veteran Stefano Gross to the track (36 years old), the semi-young Tommaso Room (27) and young Alex Vinatzer and Tobias Kastlunger, both twenty-three. Let’s go in order. The best in the year was by far Sala (tenth in the ranking), who is close to the first merit group: we wouldn’t be surprised if he made a bang. Vinatzer, who slipped back in the rankings (he’s now number 18), in theory is the talent
which sooner or later must explode. In Cortina 2021 he narrowly missed the bronze, finishing with the wooden medal. Will he finally know how to make a change in his career? We hope so, also because time passes. As for Gross and Kastlunger, at least a decent performance is expected from them. A very difficult but not impossible blue podium would finally allow Italy to have a chance to defend third place in the medal table: Switzerland (3-3-1) will be first, the USA in all probability second (2-2- 0) while we Italians (2-1-0: podiums only for women) risk overtaking more than from Canada (2-0-2), fourth but weak in the slalom, from Norway (1-3-4).

Appointment then today, Sunday 19 February: at 10 the first heat, at 13.30 the second. Even the last day of the 2023 World Cup can be followed live on TV and in streaming on Rai and Eurosport. It will be possible to see the men’s slalom free-to-air on RaiDue (digital terrestrial channel 2) and Rai Sport HD (DDT channel 58) and in live streaming on RaiPlay. There is also live coverage on Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2, channels present on the Sky decoder (210 and 211) and on the DAZN and Discovery+ apps.