. world ski news : First win for Marcel Hirscher at Alta Badia - 22 December 2013 - 19:37
ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP. Marcel Hirscher made himself a nice Christmas present today at Alta Badia winning the demanding giant slalom race at Alta Badia, one of the most prestigious competitions in the specialty along Adelboden and Kranjska Gora.
The two-time overall World Cup champion, 2nd here a year ago behind USA’s Ted Ligety and a winner in that discipline last week at Val d’Isère, beat by 35/100 of a second France’s Alexis Pinturault while Ligety had to be content with 3rd place half a second back.
Germany’s Fritz Dopfer lead a strong German charge with 4th place ahead of his teammate Felix Neureuther while Stefan Luitz, 3rd at Val d’Isère last week, was a consistent 8th.
USA’s Tim Jitloff celebrated a promising 5th tying with Neureuther while Benjamin Raich was a strong 7th after clocking the fastest time in the second leg.
Norways Aksel Lund Svindal,13th, remains in the lead in the overall World Cup standings ahead of Hirscher who is now a solid leader in the giant slalom standings after reaching his seventh consecutive podium in the discipline since last January.
Hirscher fought with great energy to become the first Austrian since Christian Mayer’s victory in 1997 to dominate the World Cup ‘classic’ once more perfectly organized on the treacherous ‘Gran Risa’ slope since 1985.
Warmer weather and grippy snow made for trickier than usual conditions on the steep hill overall looking the nearby resort of Alta Badia, Italy, the final men’s World Cup event before the Christmas break. Marcel Hirscher himself faced some tough moments during both runs sliding once onto his hip but making up for it with an aggressive line.
Hard work for Marcel Hirscher.
“If only you knew how bad my skiing and my feeling were yesterday, I doubt anyone would ever believe I could win today,” said the 24-year-old during the flash-interview made a few minutes after his arrival.
“Somehow I still showed some really good skiing in the end, and I couldn’t be happier. It was really, really important for me to win when Ted is competitive. I have done everything I possibly could to get closer to Ted, and it’s tough to get faster and faster but it was worth it,” Hirscher also explained.
“My serviceman at Atomic helped me a lot to improve my settings in recent days during my last training camp at Reiteralm. We were able to dramatically improve my setup in changing a small detail. Yet even this morning, we made some tests at 7 o’clock in the morning when it was still dark outside. It surely was very helpful and I felt very confident on my way down the slope today. I took all risks again and I nearly skied out in the final part of that second run. But it definitely was worth it – that’s the way I like to race.”
“All these efforts make it a special win for all of us,” added Hirscher who also won a slalom in November at Levi, in Finland. “So many people have worked for this. The basic training days for the development of the setup has paid off. Now we are back where we belong. It’s a great way to end this intense racing period for me. I really feel tired and I am looking forward now for a peaceful break with my family and my girl friend.”
An ‘off day’ for Ligety ?
Ted Ligety, the reigning World Cup and World Champion in GS had what can only be called an “off day” doing battle with the steep course instead of controlling it as fans and rivals have grown accustomed to seeing. The course, normally a glaze of ice, featured grippy snow this season, at least until it was skied off revealing harder snow beneath. It varied dramatically along the course, even side to side. Ligety suggested he had not attacked enough. “I had a couple of little mistakes and you pay for them on this type of snow, he said.”
“It was just so easy and grippy that I definitely didn’t have quite the right approach and just was thinking it was going to be slicker than it was,” Ligety also told the press. “I have trained a few days nearby on a very icy slope and I really felt fine. I had a couple of those little mistakes and you pay hard on this type of snow, yet I'm happy with third. I don't feel like I skied my best but that's not easy to do every time. I've had a tough European trip in fact and it's nice to put in a decent result here.
“It's not been an easy December for me.I’m now looking forward for a nice break at home at Park City. I would enjoy doing some powder skiing if it’s possible. Then it's back to Europe for Adelboden and the run up to the Olympics”
Alexis back on the podium.
After a series of problems that had prevented him to reach more podiums after his excellent start at Soelden in October, Pinturault was glad to be back among the top-3 after two strong consecutive runs. He was particularly pleased to have found back his momentum in time to excel on the coveted ‘Gran Risa’ slope. “It’s my first podium here and I’m very proud of it, it has always been a great place for me since I started to compete,” the skier from Courchevel said at the post-race press conference.
“I was not very happy with my setup in Beaver Creek and Val d’Isère, where I finished just off the podium,” noted Pinturault. “We changed a few things earlier this week after I decided the skip the Super-G at Val Gardena and today it worked really well. Now I hope to continue on this path, the talented Frenchman added.”
Interestingly enough, only those three skiers managed to win giant slalom races in recent months, proving that they are by far the best specialists on the tour – and the main candidate for Olympic medals in six months at Sochi.
After a short break, the World Cup tour resumes next weekend at Bormio for the spectacular downhill on the Stelvio course. Conditions seems fine in the Italian resort located north of Milano.
A.I.J.S. Ski Press News
December 22, 2013