Peter Runggaldier will give it another go

It’s hard to believe but Peter Runggaldier will be 45 in a few days on 29th December. The former world-class skier is still active in sport but has swapped his downhill skis for a mountain bike and touring skis.

Tomorrow, however, he will once again strap his ski boots onto the long boards and will hit off the World Cup Downhill in Val Gardena as a forerunner. Camel humps, Wall, Ciaslat: Peter Runggaldier, the World Cup Silver Medallist of 1991 and the Overall Super G World Cup Winner of 1995, knows the Saslong like almost no other skier. Although the man from Val Gardena retired from active racing in 2000, he is still in enviable shape and can compete with the young guns.

Tomorrow he will be a forerunner on the Saslong. Peter, who won the FIS World Cup twice over, prepared for this event last week alongside the National Italian Ski Team. Christof Innerhofer, Dominik Paris, Werner Heel, Siegmar Klotz, Matteo Marsaglia and Silvano Varettoni were impressed with the skiing precision of the now amateur athlete and organiser of the mountain bike Sellaronda Hero race: “With regard to finding the right line, Runggaldier is a cunning old bird. Even 13 years after his retirement he would still outrace lots of youngsters,” says Peter Fill. It will be interesting to see how long it will take Runggaldier to conquer the Saslong tomorrow.