'Rocket' Ryding brought crashing back down to earth after World Cup lift-off

Dave Ryding ended last week on top of the skiing world only to be brought back down to earth with a bump three days later. In Kitzbuehel on Saturday, the 35-year-old from Pendle became the first Brit ever to win an alpine skiing World Cup event, claiming victory in the slalom on the legendary slopes in Austria. Ad/> By Tuesday Ryding was not even the fastest Brit on the circuit, beaten by training partner Billy Major a couple of hours down the road in Schladming, with Major 18th and Ryding 20th.

/> Schladming'Huge result!' — Strasser wins slalom in Schladming25/01/2022 AT 21:34 It was a reality check with just over a week before the start of the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, but not necessarily a bad thing for 'The Rocket'. Ryding, one of over 1,000 athletes who are able to train full-time, access the world's best coaches and benefit from vital National Lottery funding, said: «It was a slap back to reality. »I train with Billy and Laurie (Taylor), we push each other.

They are not seen as much yet because they are still working their way through the rankings but I know how fast they are and I already knew on Tuesday that I would have to ski well if I wanted to beat them. «Billy was in the second run and I didn't get my processes right. For sure there was a bit of a physical hangover and mentally I was trying to process everything.

But I got some things wrong with my equipment which slapped me back to reality. »It's probably a good thing for the Olympics, that stark reminder that you have to do everything right in the lead-up to the Games. Whether that is doing my first gym session since the race, or the day before the race, making sure you are in the right mindset and nutrition, everything.