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Herbst wraps up pre Olympic season with win in Kranjska Gora Slalom

Reinfried Herbst made it two wins on the bounce in winning the last race before the Olympics start. Trailing Italian Giuliano Razzoli by two hundredths after the first run Herbst put in a near faultless second run to put the pressure on the Italian. “Razzo” suffered the same fate an unusually high number of racers in the event in straddling half way down. The story of the race however, was not Herbst’s first podium in Kranjska Gora but the continuing emergence of young Marcel Hirscher. Hirscher, a double winner on the Giant Slalom World Cup this season, had threatened to improve his slalom over the next year but attacked the second run to jump up from fifteenth to move a second ahead of anyone else after his run.

The overnight snow that had fallen had been moved off the course by the time the race started. The tight and twisty course set for the first run meant that a tight line was always going to be risky and this proved the case with 29 of the 81 runners on the first run failing to make the finish. Add to this the bumpy conditions and by the time the mid to late runners were heading down the Podkoren 3 piste, the ruts were breaking away to make it even harder for the later runners to challenge for a top 30 spot.

Hirscher’s second run was the stuff of heroes. Standing at the start the young Austrian, spoke with his coaches and said “please do not be upset if I crash out after two or three gates,” as he decided that he was going to really go for it. After discussing his whole set up with the coaches and service crew, Hirscher changed his boots and skis for the second run. The change obviously paid of as he was almost seven tenths ahead of the next racer on the second run time. While nobody knew whether the new set up or tactic would work, Hirscher is a man on the top of his form at the moment, especially having been on the podium all three days in Kranjska Gora.

None of the racers following Hirscher could live with the speed the Austrian had managed to generate down the slope. With five to go it was still Hirscher standing in the leaders enclosure: Pranger, Janyk, Raich, Herbst and Razzoli all remained at the top. The deteriorating conditions meant that keeping a clean line was hard and maintaining the speed without sliding was vital. Pranger was unable to deliver another smooth run and he dropped down the leader board eventually finishing 11^th. Hirscher could breath again.

Next down was Janyk and he too stuttered and dropped off and would end up tenth. Raich, for many years the most feared Slalom skier of them all but now being seen almost as mortal, looked to have kept in touch with the young pretender but then made a mistake half way down and this cost him his opportunity to add to his career wins. While Raich added to his Overall points total with a sixth place, it is the big points that you get for the podium spots that Raich was after.

Then came Herbst! Although not as fast as Hirscher, he had over a second advantage on his compatriot. By the first split, three tenths had ebbed away. This had grown to seven tenths by the next split. Herbst knew that Hirscher had done “an unbelievable run” but he “skis his own race” he admitted afterwards. With Julien Lizeroux having been just behind the Austrian in the race for the Globe before the race and sitting in second before Herbst started, Herbst’s run had so many implications. By the time he crossed the line he had four tenths still in hand and the joy was there for all to see. In Schladming Herbst had had his family to watch but this time the young family of Herbst were watching him on the television at home but still cheering him on.

The race was not over as the winner of Zagreb, Giuliano Razzoli, was at the start waiting to come down. Would it be Austria or Italy that would take the win? There had been a little Austrian Italian rivalry before the second run as Alberto Tomba had bet Hirscher that he could make the top five after the second run. With Hirscher in second, this was a victory for the Austrians, would they take the win in the main race as well?

With just two hundredths advantage, Razzo could not afford to sit back. Half way down the Italian struggled to keep his skis in control and not long after that he had straddled and was out. Two wins for the Austrians over the Italians but for Herbst this was a vital step towards winning the Slalom Crystal Globe as the best slalom skier of the season. With the final race over a month and a half away in Garmsich at the World Cup Finals, Herbst is now all focused on the Olympics.

Noel Baxter took to the start for Britain. Despite not having made the Olympic Team, Baxter was in good form and determined. He had shown in Schladming earlier in the week that he has the form and ability to make the final run yet these were completely different conditions. Talking with his coach after the run, the conditions that he faced were nigh on impossible to qualify from: Many of the ruts were breaking away and add to this the bumps, it was not surprise that he failed to make much beyond the first split. By this time Baxter was already 1.86 off the pace set by Razzoli.

So a win for Herbst that takes him further ahead in the Slalom standings but with Lizeroux taking third ahead of Neureuther, Zurbriggen and Raich, a slip up in the final race in Garmisch will open the race for the Globe up… But first the Olympics!