BORMIO, Italy, Feb 15 (Reuters) - British slalom veteran Dave Ryding expects Monday's Olympic race to be wide open and hopes to take advantage of a 'mellow' course to sign off his fifth and final Games in style.
The 39-year-old, Britain's most successful World Cup ski racer after famously winning in Kitzbuehel in 2022, arrived in Bormio this week set on posting his best Olympic result.
"It's going to be so open on Monday, I think you'll see some names that you were like, whoa, I didn't expect him to be there. Hopefully I'll be one of them," Ryding told Reuters.
"If the conditions are good on the snow, then I think it should be a really open and a fun race to watch."
While Bormio's fabled Stelvio is a formidable downhill course, the section used for the slalom set-up is relatively flat compared to usual tracks on the World Cup.
Ryding, who learned to ski on a plastic slope in Pendle, Lancashire and did not compete on real snow until aged 12, made his Olympic debut at the Vancouver Games in 2010.
His best individual result was ninth in Pyeongchang in 2018.
He watched last Monday's team combined slalom leg on TV with interest as it will be the same slope for Monday's race, although the gate-setters will surely toughen it up after many skiers described it as easy.
"I watched the team combined and with all due respect to the piste that I'm going to race on Monday, and I don't want to jinx myself or put a voodoo on the slope, it's a more mellow slope than we normally race," Ryding, known as The Rocket, said.
"I was thinking I don't know what they've set. There wasn't much turning going on. It was kind of eye-opening just how simple they set that course.
"I would think that it won't be quite like that with it being like the official slalom. But let's see.
"Maybe experience won't count as much on a piste like this compared to Wengen or Kitzbuehel where there's so much terrain. I think it's much more about full throttle skiing here. The youngsters may have a bit more nimbleness than the old fox."
A Briton has only finished on an Olympic Alpine skiing podium once when Alain Baxter came third in the slalom in Salt Lake City, but subsequently had his bronze medal taken away after testing positive for a prohibited substance.
(Reporting by Martyn HermanEditing by Christian Radnedge)
