The most mythical Slalom of the Men's Alpine Skiing World Cup took place today in Kitzbühel on the icy Ganslern. Finding good tempo and being clean as possible was the key to success on this slope, which doesn't allow a lack of concentration or major errors. Even with a first run far from being exceptional, Henrik Kristoffersen skied a complete second round, showing the extent of his talents.
First run:
Fritz Dopfer, who struggled last week in Wengen, signed the reference time with a smooth, clean and error free first run. Finishing in second place was Matthias Hargin. The defending champion surely finds the Ganslern a lucky track. He finished 0.18 seconds behind Dopfer. The young Austrian hope Marco Schwarz goes into third position, 0.33 seconds behind with a clean and technical run. In fourth place, with the exact same time, is Aleksandr Khoroshilov and Marcel Hirscher. The Russian skied a very clean and smooth run, while the Austrian got in trouble in the upper part of the track to then recover and sign a smooth low section. Henrik Kristoffersen, who is the man to beat this season in Slalom, almost went down, being in trouble in the upper section of the race. He finished out of the top 10, in 12th place. The young Norwegian maybe felt some pressure on the mythic track that is the Ganslern.
Marco Schwarz isn’t the only racer with a high bib in the top 10. Anton Lahdenperae started in the 25th position and ended in sixth, as he did a nice job maneuvering down the course. Just behind him in the seventh position, another young Austrian, Manuel Feller, showed an aggressive type of ski, staying on the attack until the end. In eighth and ninth position, respectively, was David Chodounsky and Manuel Moelgg who showed great smoothness on the track. Ten skiers qualified to the second run with bibs above 30, including Christian Hirschbuehl, Dominik Stehle and Robin Buffet, and finished in the top 20.
But this first run was mainly marked by runway excursions, 13 overall. The race started badly with bib No. 1 Giuliano Razzoli stopping his slalom after a few gates, feeling a considerable pain in his left knee. Unable to ski down the mountain, the helicopter came to evacuate him. The news broke just before the second run, revealing that Razzoli suffered from a rupture of the cruciate ligaments. Alexis Pinturault lost his right pole after only a gate and then got thrown off balance in the upper part of the track. Another French athlete, Victor Muffat-Jeandet, struggled in the same part of the track like his teammate and then went out. Many skiers were thrown off balance, just like Pinturault, after the double gate and the following extension in the first part of the race.
Second run:
The second run was punctuated by several track outputs just like the first one. The first one to take advantage of his early position was Stefano Gross. The Italian skied intelligently, making smooth turns to take the lead. Starting just after Gross, Jonathan Nordbotten attacked the track with a full commitment but always in control. When he crossed the finish line it was evident that he was more than confident about his run, and he should since he took the lead. Patrick Thaler showed some great skills on the track with a total commitment. He used his experience on the tour wisely to take the lead from the Norwegian.
Up next was Henrik Kristoffersen. The bearer of the red bib skied his second run way differently from the first one. He attacked much more, gaining an advantage intermediate by intermediate with beautiful turns on closing sections. He finished his run with an advantage of 1.25 seconds ahead of Thaler.
After the young Norwegian, many skiers had trouble finding the right rhythm on the Ganslern, like Felix Neureuther, Jean-Baptiste Grange and Manfred Moelgg. Then came the turn of Marcel Hirscher, who was committed to do well in front of his crowd. The Austrian executed a great ski, with nicely done turns and serious commitment. He performed a strong finish but it wasn’t enough to dislodge Kristoffersen from the first place. Kristoffersen edged out Hirscher by 0.03 seconds to remain in the lead.
There were only four skiers left to stop Kristoffersen from another victory. Khoroshilov tried to stay high on the gates but had too many mistakes and finally went out of the track only three gates from the finish line. Marco Schwarz, who is the rising star of the Austrian team, showed great skill to get out of trouble, but couldn't shake Kristoffersen from the lead. Matthias Hargin unfortunately had too many mistakes for the win but ended in third. At this moment, only Fritz Dopfer could change the hierarchy. The German racer, who showed no sign of pressure, skied very smoothly but it wasn’t enough to claim the victory. He ended in third place, ejecting Hargin from the podium.
Kristoffersen won his fifth Slalom this season, in six possible races, and once again strengthens his lead in the Slalom rankings. By ending second, Hirscher continues to show off his ability, as he is the only one to defeat Kristoffersen this season.