When the chips were down, Sara Hector rose to the occasion and won her second race on the World Cup with a hard fight win in Courchevel. Leading after the first run, she withstood the pressure of Mikaela Shiffrin, Marta Bassino, Tessa Worleyand Petra Vlhova who all attached to try and wrestle the win away from her but had to settle for places in the top five.
With the first run set down the smoother side of the piste, Hector had set the pace but with the second run course dealing with the cross ruts from the day before, this caused many of the racers to struggle and saw four racers crash out, including Federica Brignone.
Mina Fuerst Holtmann set a blistering pace from being first out of the gate on run two. Her run time would prove to be the fastest of all and lifted the Norwegian up to 14th overall. Holtmann had edged her compatriot Thea Louise Stjernesund out of the race by just 0.01 and took her chance with both hands on the second run.
Holtmann only held the lead forty racers before Paula Moltzan edged her off the top spot. These two had the fastest two times on the run and held the positions one and two until Camille Rast came down as the race started to hot up. Rast took the lead and then it was a quick turnover for the race lead.
Katharina Truppe, Stephanie Brunner, Ragnhild Mowinckel, Maryna Gąsienicą-Daniel and then Vlhova all took the lead with then just four to go.
Bassina had crashed out on the each of the first two races in the GS World Cup this season and the way she powered her way down the second run showed she had a mission. She wanted to show that she still meant business. Bassino took the lead away from Vlhova and then had the lead taken away by Shiffrin.
Tessa Worley has not won in France and this remains on her bucket list. The fine line between determination and being over the line saw her drop down to third with just Hector to go.
Hector win in Kuhtai in 2015 and since then, even podium finishes have been scarce. This was the first time that she had posted the fastest time on the first run and this was business time. Hector was up for the challenge of staying ahead of the rest of the field.
Mistakes crept in but they did not faze her. She got her ski caught in a rut so she just rode the rut out and powered on. This was an experienced racer going about her business and putting the years of hard work to good use.
By the time the Swedish racer crossed the line, she had extended her lead over second place and the joy was immense. First to cross over to see her and celebrate was Shiffrin. She may have deprived her of a 73rd World Cup win but Shiffrin was thrilled for Hector to win her second race. The class of a true champion.
Shiffrin now moves further into the lead in the Overall and GS standings after Soffia Goggia crashed out on run one.
After the race, Hector admitted that she was so surprised to have won: "It was such a big fight and I was so surprised," adding "It is crazy but I am so proud."
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