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In the first race of the season, Marta Bassino wins ahead of Federica Brignone. Michelle Gisin lost the podium by 17 hundredths.
The podium
- 1. Marta Bassino (ITA) 2: 19.69 minutes
- 2. Federica Brignone (ITA) +0.14
- 3. Petra Vlhova (SVK) +1.13
The first race of the World Cup season was firmly in Italian hands. Marta Bassino won the giant slalom in Sölden just ahead of her compatriot Federica Brignone, the outright winner of the World Cup last season. Bassino had already clearly led in the first race, Brignone made the race exciting again at the end.
Petra Vlhova also took third place on the podium. The Slovakian woman pushed her way to the podium with a strong second race from intermediate 10. Norway’s Mina Fürst-Holtmann, 3rd of the first round, had to settle for 5th place.
Swiss women:
- 4. Michelle Gisin +1.30
- 8. Lara Gut-Behrami +2.56
- 11. Andrea Ellenberger +3.54
- 22. Priska Nufer +5.39
- 26. Wendy Holdener +7.28
In the first race of the season, Michelle Gisin only lost the podium by 17 hundredths of a second. It remains a feeling of accomplishment for the central Swiss woman – she equaled her best result in a giant slalom. In the first race, the Swiss also came in fourth place. Lara Gut-Behrami lost 2 places as sixth in the first race, but was ranked eighth in the top ten.
Andrea Ellenberger showed what was probably the wildest ride from a Swiss point of view in the second race: after finishing 25th in the first race, the Central Swiss driver was aggressive and gained a 1.50-second lead. He stayed on top for a long time, in the end he finished 11th with the third best running time.
At the start of race two, Wendy Holdener finished seventh and lagged far behind. In her first giant slalom in her history, Priska Nufer, who started the race with start number 64, could already qualify qualifying for the second race as a great success. In the end, the result was 22nd.
The reverse
After the Austrian team lost the Nations Cup to Switzerland for the first time in 31 years, they suffered another setback early in the season. Katharina Truppe was 15 years old as the best athlete on the Austrian national team.
The absent
The great absentee was named Mikaela Shiffrin. The American decided not to start in Sölden after experiencing back pain in training. He wanted to take it easy for the next races in November.
The humor
The race took place without spectators due to the coronavirus pandemic. This time there was absolutely no sign of a winter sports festival as in all previous years in Sölden. “A little sad,” said German alpine chief Wolfgang Maier, “when you know what kind of cool ski festival it was here.” You can hear every word like in a football stadium.
The additional program
After the start of the season, athletes have a full 4 weeks to analyze Sölden’s findings. A parallel slalom will only continue in Lech (AUT) in one month, on November 13.
