While he was not sad about how his season had gone up to now, Henrik Kristoffersen was delighted to have stopped the winning run of Marcel Hirscher by winning the Hahnenkamm Slalom. This was Kristoffersen’s second win in Kitzbuehel and after a tremendous first run that saw him ahead of Hirscher by over a second, he held on to win with Hirscher seconds and Daniel Yule of Switzerland in third, Victor Muffat Jeandet and Manuel Feller took fourth and fifth with Dave Ryding finishing joint ninth.
With heavy snow having fallen overnight, the legend of Kitzbuehel and the Hahnenkamm weekend still attracted a crowd of over 30,000 to the Ganslern slope, scene of Dave Ryding’s epic runners up spot last year. Henrik Kristoffersen put in a stunning first run to overtake Michael Matt with Hirscher off the pace by over a second in third. A big mistake from Ryding saw him down in 25th after the first run. Daniel Yule was in fourth after the first run having made full use of his top seven bib in the deteriorating conditions.
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KITZBUEHEL, AUSTRIA - JANUARY 21: Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway competes during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Slalom on January 21, 2018 in Kitzbuehel, Austria. (Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom)[/caption]
The first run had been set by the Russian coach and the course did not run well yet according to Laurie Taylor, starting his third World Cup race of the season, “it was fun to ski.” Taylor performed well in placing 47th after the run, the first time he has made the finish line with a challenging run. Taylor is only just back from racing in Korea and this gave him more encouragement and desire to want to race here again in the future.
With Ryding having an early start for the second run, the scene was set for a Rocket Ryding second run charge. He did not disappoint. Fellow Obergurgl sponsored racer, Fritz Dopfer of Germany had gone one before Ryding and taken the lead and then Ryding came down and destroyed Dopfer’s time by 0.63. The excitement level grew up a notch.
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KITZBUEHEL, AUSTRIA - JANUARY 21: Dave Ryding of Great Britain competes during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Slalom on January 21, 2018 in Kitzbuehel, Austria. (Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom)[/caption]
If the crowd thought that Ryding would hold the lead for a few, then they would be disappointed. Ryding may have been 2.89 seconds off Kristoffersen on the first run but his second run charge put the pressure on those at the start.
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KITZBUEHEL, AUSTRIA - JANUARY 21: Dave Ryding of Great Britain celebrates during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Slalom on January 21, 2018 in Kitzbuehel, Austria. (Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom)[/caption]
A run of racers making errors ensued and Ryding was holding his own at the business end. “I knew that I had to go for it on the second run,” Ryding explained “my first run was not good and this was a good opportunity to get back in the mix.” Ryding ended up in 9th with the honour of having produced the fastest second run time!
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KITZBUEHEL, AUSTRIA - JANUARY 21: Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway takes 1st place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Slalom on January 21, 2018 in Kitzbuehel, Austria. (Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom)[/caption]
Yule came down to grab the lead, his first podium on the World Cup, then Hirscher looked to continue his winning run and when Matt inexplicably took the wrong line around a hairpin, it was either Hirscher or Kristoffersen for the win.
“I am not unhappy with the season after I have taken six podiums before today,” the Norwegian explained, “but with no wins. I have trained a lot of Giant Slalom but this win means a lot,” he continued. Full speed at the top and then more restrained skiing lower down so some of his advantage eek away but this was a second Norwegian win of the weekend.
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KITZBUEHEL, AUSTRIA - JANUARY 21: Marcel Hirscher of Austria takes 2nd place, Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway takes 1st place, Daniel Yule of Switzerland takes 3rd place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Slalom on January 21, 2018 in Kitzbuehel, Austria. (Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom)[/caption]
Kitzbuehel delivered three fantastic races over the course of the weekend with impressive racing and incredible performances. No one could have foreseen the story lines…..
Full result