Marcel Hirscher made his much-noticed comeback in two runs on Sunday, the eight-time overall World Cup winner came 23rd (+2.16 seconds). Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who is now driving for Brazil, even ended up in fourth place (+0.90) with his best running time in the second round after a year-long break.
As a Brazilian-Norwegian dual citizen, Braathen was able to celebrate well with his ex-colleagues. Henrik Kristoffersen was already 65/100 behind Steen Olsen, the half-time leader who was unleashed in the decision. Atle Lie McGrath was a hundredth slower than Kristoffersen in Norsk’s first triple victory since December 2015 in Val Gardena.
The 17,200 pairs of eyes at the Rettenbach Glacier only saw the Swiss dominator Marco Odermatt and the Austrians Manuel Feller and Stefan Brennsteiner in the morning. The trio was eliminated in the first run on a steep slope. Raphael Haaser was the best of only two ÖSV runners in the top 30 in seventh place (+1.35), immediately ahead of Patrick Feurstein (+1.45). There were no points for Lukas Feurstein (+3.27), Vincent Kriechmayr (+3.00), Fabio Gstrein (+3.49) and Noel Zwischenbrugger (+3.51) at the overture in Ötztal.
Hirscher’s fear of embarrassing himself more than five years after his resignation was unfounded. In the morning, number 34 finished 28th, 2.29 seconds behind. On a better slope and with the lighting conditions on his side, the Salzburg player risked more. The third fastest running time was the result.
“Skiing has always been my life and still is,” said the 35-year-old on ORF after his “pleasure project” as a Dutchman immediately earned him World Cup points. “Of course it looks great now, but you can still lose a lot. If you were six seconds behind, you would have said he was really old. Which is what I am.”
