With his slalom victories number 20 and 21, Kristoffersen not only took his compatriot Lucas Braathen off the top of the special classification, but also pulled away a bit in the race for the small crystal globe. By Sunday’s competition, the top 13 runners were only within 99 points. Now Kristoffersen leads with 356 points and 49 points ahead of his compatriot Braathen. The German Linus Straßer (278), Kitz winner Dave Ryding from Great Britain (262) and ÖSV ace Manuel Feller (261) are the other pursuers of the Norwegian.
Both on Saturday and Sunday, Kristoffersen not only had to attack from an ambush, the 27-year-old was also lucky that the half-time leaders in both cases said goodbye in the second round. Tanguy Nef and his Swiss compatriot Loic Meillard fell out on the way to their first World Cup and slalom victory. On Sunday, Johannes Strolz and Ramon Zenhäusler, another Swiss, who were ex aequo in second place, did not finish either.
Kristoffersen celebrates a double in Garmisch
The slalom weekend in Garmisch-Partenkirchen was all regarding Henrik Kristoffersen. After his triumph on Saturday, the Norwegian followed suit on Sunday. Surprisingly, the best Austrian was Marco Schwarz in fifth place, who, like the winner, benefited from the failures of the top trio following the first round.
“The level is so high that everyone knows they have to risk their last shirt. When you’re in the lead, there’s no room for tactical thinking. When the courses are as difficult as (on Sunday, note) in the second round, it’s incredibly easy to make a mistake and be eliminated,” said Strolz regarding the unsuccessful attempts of the half-time leaders. The Vorarlberger himself fell victim to the “curse” at the Olympics and slipped back to second place behind Clement Noel following the best time following the first run. Nevertheless, the silver medal shone like gold for the 29-year-old.
Unusual series
Noel was also the only runner this season to convert a first-round best time into a win. The Frenchman brought his half-time lead home in Val d’Isere in the first race of the season, but was unable to repeat this coup followingwards. Noel was also in the lead in Madonna di Campiglio, but dropped out in the second run just before the finish line, giving victory to Norwegian world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag. It was the start of an unusual series.
In Adelboden, Feller and Fabio Gstrein were ahead, Strolz ultimately won the race ahead of Feller, Gstrein was eliminated. In Wengen, Kristoffersen, as the half-time leader, laughed with the sun in the Bernese Oberland, his compatriot Braathen benefited from Kristoffersen’s failure a few goals before the goal. Alex Vinatzer (ITA) was spared a zero number in Kitzbühel, but he fell back to 18th place when Ryding triumphed. The Swede Kristoffer Jakobsen was the last to start in Schladming in the second round, he didn’t see the finish line and watched Straßer win. And now it caught the Swiss Nef and Meillard.
Risk regardless of loss
But not only the “half-time curse”, but also regular mistakes of the top drivers add spice to the race for the small crystal ball. While the Slovakian Petra Vlhova already has the World Cup rating for the slalom in her pocket thanks to her dominant consistency, the favorites in the men regularly managed zero numbers. In the doubles on the Gudiberg in Partenkirchen at the weekend, Olympic champion Noel and world champion Foss-Solevaag more or less ignored each other with two failures.
For Feller, Austria’s hottest share in the struggle for crystal, the “massive development” in slalom sport is to blame for the many failures of top drivers. “Everyone is looking at you so incredibly, you can’t pull back, you have to push yourself to the limit, you have to take risks. I think Ingemar Stenmark once said that if you don’t risk a failure in the slalom, you won’t be there. And today that counts more than ever,” said the Tyrolean, who risked too much himself on Sunday and fell back from sixth to 15th place with a serious mistake.
Strolz also sees less nervousness than the “win or fly” mentality of the top drivers as the reason for the turbulent races and the failure of the top people. “The leaders are mostly experienced runners who have already mastered completely different things. It’s less nerves than everyone risking their last shirt,” says the 29-year-old, who sees the willingness to take risks as a gain: “That’s good too, it’s very interesting for the spectators, good for our sport and also very fun for racers.” On March 9th in Flachau, the fun continues for Strolz and Co., but at the latest at the final on March 19th in Courchevel, the fun will end in terms of World Cup rankings.
