'Passion and work ethic!' – Dave Ryding reveals the key to success despite age, agrees with Novak Djokovic

Great Britain star Dave Ryding has revealed that “passion and work ethic” are the two keys to his success despite being one of the oldest skiers on the tour. Ryding, 36, confounded expectations, and his own poor form, just before the Alpine World Ski Championships when he secured a second-place finish at Kitzbuhel, on the one-year anniversary of his triumph at the legendary Austrian venue, the first British male victory on the World Cup. Ad And as the oldest man on tour to win a slalom, it could be easy for Ryding to give up on the dream of winning again but the fire still burns.

World Championships'Two rock solid runs!' — Raposo puts together superb World Championships performanceAN HOUR AGO Speaking to Eurosport expert and former world champion Tina Maze ahead of the slalom race on Sunday, Ryding said: “Thankfully, my body feels good. I haven't got any like aches or pains. «The real hard thing is the sort of mental intensity that you’ve got to bring to a slalom.

“If my body's still springy, then I don't have a problem with that. “But the mental side of it and getting in the zone is getting hard. But it is what it is.

And I'm still able to just about do it. But I think I also use the age thing now as something I'm proud of, because I'm the oldest ever winner of a slalom two seasons ago. And then the third oldest ever on a podium.

“So in slalom it's also a goal to do it with age and become the oldest maybe on a podium. But to do that would mean another year so I don't know.” Ryding then revealed the keys to his success still whilst agreeing with a point made by Novak Djokovic recently, that 35 is the new 25. “I was driving here driving on my own, so you get lost in your thoughts and I was thinking 'why am I able to do