British Alpine skiing is celebrating after Dave Ryding finished second in the Slalom World Cup in Kitzbuehel, Austria, matching Great Britain’s best ever Alpine World Cup result.
The Delancey British Alpine Team athlete put in the performance of his life as he clocked the fastest time in run one, meaning he would be the last racer down the tricky Kitzbuehel course for the second run.
Ryding held his nerve and skied another storming run to eventually claim second place behind local favourite, Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher.
Second place for skier Dave Ryding Kitzbuehel 2017.
This was Ryding’s sixth top 15 finish of the season and Britain’s best result in an Alpine World Cup for 35 years, matching Konrad Bartelski’s second place in a Downhill World Cup in 1981.
Ryding said: “It is an insane feeling. After the first run I knew I had skied it clean, but couldn’t believe it when I crossed the finish line. After the second run I just thought to myself ‘I’ve done it!’. Hirscher skied so well, so coming second almost felt like a victory.”
Ryding will race again this week in the famous Schladming World Cup night Slalom. The race will be shown on BBC’s red button and iPlayer as well as the first run on Eurosport. The first run begins at 16.45 GMT tomorrow (Tuesday) with the second run at 19.45 GMT.
For all the information on British Ski and Snowboard see www.teambss.org.uk.