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The Austrian skiers took a big step forward in the first of two World Cup giant slalom races this weekend in Courchevel on Saturday. If Katharina Truppe was 15th in the season opener in Sölden as the best ÖSV, this time there were three places in the top ten or five places in the 15. The best of the team was Katharina Liensberger in sixth place. Sölden’s Italian winner Marta Bassino also won this time, from second place at halftime.
The 24-year-old caught half-time leader Petra Vlhova with the fastest time in the second heat, while the Slovakian came third behind Sweden’s Sara Hector. For the 25-year-old world champion in this discipline, it was still the fifth podium in the fifth race of the season, and the three-time winner of the season continues to lead the World Cup with confidence. On the final count, she was 0.59 seconds behind Bassino, Hector was 0.46 seconds behind Bassino after an equally strong second run.
As American Mikaela Shiffrin sought her 67th World Cup victory from third place at halftime to fourth place and thus fell from the podium (+1.70), the Austrians were behind the Italian World Cup winner in fifth place, Federica Brignone (+1, 93) vigorously. In the end, Liensberger was exactly two seconds behind Bassino, while Vorarlberg’s wife moved up one place in the decision.
Liensberger was happy for her second best giant slalom result at the World Cup, at the end of December 2019 she finished third in Lienz. Of course, the 24-year-old feels there is still more inside: “In terms of performance, I know even more would be possible. Conditions were extremely difficult. You really had to outdo yourself. I managed to do well in both races. ”Apparently a lot of good has been done in the last two months since the Sölden race.
The 23-year-old was confident for the second Courchevel giant slalom on Sunday (9.30am, ORF 1 live), showered with self-confidence. Behind her were two more places in the top ten for the red-white-red team, which hadn’t been there since Liensberger’s podium at Lienz in three races. Stephanie Brunner landed on her second giant slalom after her comeback after sustaining a third cruciate ligament tear in seventh position (+2.26), making the zip line fifth after race one.
“It is a great satisfaction after the last few years,” said the 26-year-old. “If you look at the time span, you think we are still very far away. But it is not that far. During training we realized that it was going well. But you have to prove it in the race. “That is particularly valuable on this slope as it is not his favorite slope. Difficult conditions with light snow and moderate visibility of the ground did the rest for difficult conditions.
Better conditions are announced for Sunday, from which Ricarda Haaser also wants to benefit. In tenth place (+3.45) he showed himself again for a long time, but the zip line was not completely satisfied. “I miss the last cheek, it was not in depth again,” summed up the 27-year-old. “Certainly, it is still possible to do many things.” With Katharina Truppe in 11th position (+3.51) and Franziska Gritsch, who came out of 29th position at halftime, in 14th (+5.00), there were two more positions in the top 15 of the ÖSV.
In addition to its own performance, the company was also happy about the team spirit: “I have always said that we are better than many believe. It was difficult to get there. But I did well. That is a result you can build on. “Ramona Siebenhofer at 24 (+6.75) and Elisa Mörzinger at 25 (+6.90) also scored World Cup points. Eva-Maria Brem (32nd), Chiara Mair (45th), Katharina Huber (48th) and Nadine Fest (58th) did not make the decision.
Vlhova had clearly pulled the straw after leading at halftime, but was not dissatisfied. “Third place is good. But of course I lost first place, I could have risked more. “Many of the athletes spoke of difficult conditions with fresh snow and poor visibility, including Bassino:” Conditions and snow were tough. I just attacked in the second half and I’m very happy for the victory. “
From: apa
