Sara Hector waited seven years between her first and second World Cup Giant Slalom race wins and has now moved on to three World Cup race wins with a commanding win in Kranjska Gora. Tessa Worley challenged the Swedish racer for the win but had to settle for second with Marta Bassino in third. The top five were rounded out by Valerie Grenier and Lara Gut-Behrami.
This was an intriguing race. rarely do Mikaela Shiffrin and Petra Vlhova have an off day and even rarer is art for neither of them to be on the podium, Shiffrin would finish seventh and Vlhova down inn 15th.
The race was all about the second run. From the first racer out of the gate, Switzerland's Andrea Ellenberger, there was the opportunity for the early starters to make big gains. Ellenberger would post the second fastest second run time and she stayed in the leaders chair for some time, eventually seeing her time bettered by Lara Gut-Behrami from seventeenth after the first run.
Gut-Behrami had not been too happy after the first run and the smile returned after the second run and remained there the longer she stayed in the leaders chair. To miss five races was tough for her and she wanted to catch up with points.
Gut-Behrami got comfortable in the leaders chair and stayed there until Valerie Grenier, who had started the race in bib 25, came down from 8th after the first run to take the lead from the Swiss racer. Could the Canadian racer hold on, even if just for a podium place?
Four racers came down and tried top better the Canadian's time and they all failed, drifting down the leaderboard.
The smile of Marta Bassino, double winner in Kranjska Gora last season, was huge when she crossed the line to take the lead. Would this be three wins on the bounce in the Slovenian resort?
In short 'No' keeps cropping up to all these questions. Grenier was soon hoping to just stay on the podium but when Worley pushed the Canadian down to third with just Hector to go, the sinking feeling was getting worse.
Hector was on fire in the first run and then attacked the second run. She explained after the race that she had felt it was going really well at the top but needed to calm herself down.
By the time that she crossed the line, Hector was almost a second ahead pop Worley and win number three was in the bag.
After the race hector explained that the improvement over the last year is the result of lots of hard work in terms of fitness, technique and the whole package.
The win takes the Swedish racer, one of only two Swedes in the field after a case of Covid-19 sweeping through the Swedish team, to the top of the Women's Giant Slalom standings. Fastest on both runs is a super impressive way to stamp your authority on a race! From seven years to 17 days, the number 7 was around again for Hector as this was where she started.
Hector is on a roll now.
All being good, the next Women's GS should see the return of Alex Tilley. She is already back on snow and is now building up strength, fitness and technique.
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