The Giant Slalom in Yuzawa Naeba felt like an ending season race. The snow and the temperature were really soft and re-sent us to a spring event. There were tough conditions the competitors had to deal with to claim the podium.
1st Run :
The first run gave us a very rhythmical trace with no tricky traps. However, many skiers had trouble in the low section, having burning legs and doing huge faults that cost hundredths.
At the top of the table, we comfortably found Fritz Dopfer. The German racer impressed the crowd in the Japanese mountains. He could find the right balance between smoothness and aggressiveness, hold the dynamic from the first to the last gate, and make considerable time differences overall with his fellow alpine skiers.
Alexis Pinturault gave a full run to end at the second place, at 0.52 seconds of Dopfer. The Frenchman showed all his Giant Slalom qualities. He looked excellent, managing to ski early turning sections while being clean and dynamic. He unfortunately lost hundredths where his fellow competitors also did, ending with the red light.
Marcel Hirscher took the second place, ending at 0.73 seconds of Dopfer. He was very calm at the start, giving forth a great upper part section, skiing right on the snow at the turns. The Austrian skier stayed calm and smooth on the snow but managed to stay aggressive enough to claim a great finish.
High bibs could have displayed themselves as competitive and enter the top 20, even the top 10. The perfect examples were Philipp Shoerghofer and Massimiliano Blardone. With their bibs 14 and 27, respectively, they both ended in the top ten ith a huge performance on a quickly deteriorating warm track.
2nd Run :
The second run was traced quicker than the first one, with more turning gates and difficult sections. Obviously the warm conditions stayed, making the track utterly smooth and fastly deteriorating. The organization recorded a temperature of 12°C at the finish area.
Blardone was more than impressive during his second run. He skied very cleverly, managing to stay aggressive with a full commitment. This huge performance led him right to the final podium at third place.
Mathieu Faivre was chasing for his first ever World Cup podium, and he got it. Finishing 6th in the first run, the Frenchman skied an amazing middle section of the track which allowed him to find the good tempo to finish the run in the best way possible, with a green light, synonymous with positive time.
This his 11th career win, Alexis Pinturault raced the second run perfectly. He stayed smooth and clean, staying error free throughout the track. He also managed to say very aggressive but in a great rhythm with a full commitment. The joy at the finish line was immense for him, seeing he was ahead and that his teammate and friend Mathieu Faivre was the runner-up.
Marcel Hirscher and Fritz Dopfer didn’t manage to stay on the podium after the first run. Both lost hundredths at the medium part and couldn’t fix it at the last third of the slope.
Final Result :
Finally, Alexis Pinturault won the Giant Slalom 0.51 seconds ahead of Mathieu Faivre and 0.67 seconds ahead of Massimiliano Blardone.
This is a great day for the French Team with 3 skiers in the top 6, with Pinturault taking the victory ahead of Mathieu Faivre and Victor Muffat-Jeandet ending 5th.