Tessa Worley doesn’t stop anymore! Victorious in the giant slalom in Lienz (Austria) on December 28, the French won a new podium on Saturday January 8 in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia). She took second place in the giant slalom behind Sara Hector, untouchable. Winner of both heats, the Swede won with a large margin over Worley (+ 0”96) and the Italian Marta Bassino (+ 1”32), third.
Already very tight in her ski to follow Sr Hector in the first round (+ 0”08), the Frenchwoman did not make the slightest mistake in the second round. A performance all the more impressive given that many big names have passed by in Slovenia, like the American Mikaela Shiffrin (7th, + 2”05) and the Slovakian Petra Vlhova (15th, +2 ‘ ’55).
Tessa Worley decided to start carefully for the first few meters of the track, giving up time to Marta Bassino, who started just before her. But once on the slope, she did not stop taking it up to finish with a comfortable lead of 36 hundredths over the Italian.
In Olympic form
In the lead provisionally, at the end of her stint, the Frenchwoman did not have time to really believe in victory, the fault of an imperial Sara Hector and in great shape following her success over one of the two giants of Courchevel , December 22. With this success, the Swede takes the lead in the classification of the specialty.
But with this podium, Tessaa Worley proved that her Lienz victory was not just a one-day performance, and that it will be necessary to count on it in the coming weeks. Particularly at the Beijing Olympics in less than a month (February 4 to 20). The Frenchwoman, who has never been on an Olympic podium, will arrive in China with full confidence.
The second round, on the other hand, was a source of frustration for the two other French chances, Coralie Frasse Sombet and Clara Direz, both ambushed in the Top 15 following the morning round. But the first made too many mistakes at the top of the track on the second, while the second failed to reproduce the same ski. Coralie Frasse Sombet finished 18th (2”92), Clara Direz 21st (+ 3”60).
