Max Franz, the talented alpine ski racer from Austria, first entered the World Cup scene in November 2009 at Lake Louise. With two World Cup victories under his belt, Franz has been excelling in this year’s competitions. Demonstrating his exceptional skills, Franz asserted his dominance by topping the final training session on Thursday at the Val Gardena downhill course.
In 2017, Max Franz clinched his first World Cup victory in downhill at Val Gardena. Outpacing the three-time Val Gardena champion Steven Nyman by 0.66 seconds, Franz also left his Swiss rival Beat Feuz trailing behind by 0.86 seconds. Beat Feuz had previously triumphed in the downhill event at Colorado’s Beaver Creek.
Having previously won the downhill World Cup at Val Gardena, Franz has consistently delivered commendable performances at the venue, securing podium finishes in both the downhill and Super-G events.
A super-G race is set to take place on the Saslong course on Friday, followed by a downhill race on Sunday. The competition will then shift to nearby Alta Badia for giant slalom events and a parallel giant slalom scheduled for Sunday and Monday, respectively.
During the initial training session on Wednesday, Max Franz claimed the second spot, with the United States’ Travis Ganong leading the pack. In the final practice session before the competition commences on Thursday, Ganong secured the sixth position. Ben Thomsen from Invermere tied for 24th place, while Ottawa’s Dustin Cook finished in 66th place.
