. world ski news : Hirscher King of Zagreb for the first time - 05 January 2012 - 20:09
ALPNINE SKI. ZAGREB, Croatia- And the 2012 “Snow King” is Marcel Hirscher from Austria. The young skier, who currently tops the Overall leader board, skied two impeccable runs on a challenging “Crveni Spust”. His overall time of 1 minute, 51.84 seconds proved to be unbeatable.
Felix Neureuther, who has been having a great season so far, was left only 0.29 seconds behind the leader. Ivica Kostelic reached the podium for the fourth time on his home slope but once again didn’t manage to make it to the very top of the rankings. After three second places, this Thursday night he is bringing home a third place, .48 seconds behind Hirscher.
Cristian Deville, the Italian skier which keeps surprising everyone this season with his results, and who was second in Beaver Creek and third in Flachau, this time around didn’t make it on the podium. He was left just off it, .35 seconds behind Kostelic.
“It’s an amazing feeling, I don’t think anyone expected me to win,” Hirscher said. “Especially since I skied out here three times and was only 15th. I think it was a good race today. It was not easy- have you heard the crowd when Ivica was skiing? You could tell who is the real hero here, so I had to work hard to beat that.”
Hirscher and Sljeme haven’t had a great relationship- he collected a disqualification, two times a “did not finish” and was 15th last year. Tonight was payback time.
“I somehow never managed to ski that good in Zagreb, and so I didn’t expect I could be the one to win here. It’s such an amazing feeling. I like these conditions, if you remember other times I was on the podium in Slalom, conditions were really similar to what we had today- I like these bumpy slopes.”
Hirscher is already looking forward to the next races.
“Next is Adelboden, I have two podiums there so I am looking forward to it.”
Being at the top of the Overall leader board at such a young age is quite something, but Hirscher doesn’t feel pressured about it.
“This hill is not easy, it has been my dream as a child to become a famous skiracer. It became real and now I’m enjoying it. Now I’m on top but in skiing things can change from race to race, so we will see. If it was the beginning of March, than being the leader of the Overall standings would be important. At this time, I try not to think about it and focusing on doing my best in my two strong disciplines, Slalom and Giant Slalom”
Felix Neureuther was tenth in Beaver Creek, third in Alta Badia, just off the podium in fourth in Flachau and now second in Zagreb, not a bad way to start off the season. Neureuther was fourth after the first run and spent a couple of minutes waiting in the leader-box and wondering how far to the front would his second run take him.
“It’s a long wait, well maybe not too long but really a nice wait. It’s always good to wait in the leader-box until the last racer is down, I like that feeling. It was a really, really big fight here tonight. It was not easy at all to ski down tonight, it was a challenge and you had to fight the whole way down, but at the end it was really good.”
Ivica Kostelic wanted to give his sister Janica the best possible present for her 30th birthday- a Kostelic victory on their home mountain. But, once again the “Kostelic curse” had its plans for Kostelic. He reached the podium for the fourth time on Sljeme, but after three second places, tonight he settled in third, once again missing the opportunity to dominate on home grounds.
“When it doesn’t work, it just doesn’t!” was what Kostelic muttered to himself just seconds after crossing the finish line and realizing he wouldn’t be walking home with a victory this year.
Few moments later he realized a third place was still an amazing achievement.
“I feel good now, but of course in the finish line, when I saw I was second again, my emotions were a bit mixed, but any skier would be happy with a podium here,” he said. “Zagreb is one of the toughest races of the season and from five seasons this race has been held on this slope, I made it to the podium four times and that sure means something. I can say I am proud of this achievement, especially if you imagine the amount of pressure that this race brings to me.”
Kostelic didn’t forget to mention his fans and the atmosphere they create year after year at the race.
“I have to say I am really proud how some racers came to me after the first run and told me we had the best atmosphere in the World Cup. The crowd cheers for every single recer. I’m proud that Zagreb, my hometown, puts up this show.”
The night before the race, Kostelic mentioned Hirscher among those who he thought could be his biggest competition on race day, and he proved to be right.
“Hirscher takes a lot of risks and today it was paying off. I think he is dominating the technical disciplines and if he keeps working like he is, he will be a serious contender for the Overall. I always said this next generation of racers, to which Hirscher belongs, would have all the benefits from the carving skis. Skiing on them from a young age must sure have its benefits.
Deville might have missed the podium but he was more than pleased with his fourth place.
“I can’t complain;” he said. “So far I have had a great season and all I can wish for is for it to keep going this way.”
The course might have not held on too well for the first run, but a colder breeze helped making the second one stay in better shape for all the thirty racers on start.
Not many changes happened among the very top but two French skiers were able to make a clear statement in the second run. Steve Missilier skied the fastest second run and spent quite some time in the leader-box, he moved from 21st place to sixth. His teammate and uprising star Alexis Pinturault clocked the second fastest time of the second run and showed some real potential in Slalom.
Last year’s winner, Andre Myhrer was having a great second run, until a mistake cost him a lot of time and he finished in fifth place.
The men’s Tour continues in Adelboden already on the 7th of January with a Giant slalom and on the 8th with a Slalom.
by Ana Jelusic
FISalpine.com
Thursday 5 January 2012 [xt] ski