Ed Guigonnet admitted to having removed the shackles of hunting for points for the National Senior Overall title and just let his skis do the talking in taking the top spot among the British Junior Men's GS Title race. Guigonnet took the win ahead of his training partner, Owen Vinter and the rising talent that is Toby Jennings. The top five juniors were rounded out by Max Laughland and George Black.
Guigonnet had been looking at all the scenarios in the hunt for the Men's Senior Overall title and when he had that secured the day before, he admitted that it had almost felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, "now I can go for race wins," he explained.
Guigonnet finished in 15th overall but was still very happy with the result - it was a season's best result in Giant Slalom. He admitted afterwards that he had been thinking about just focussing on Slalom, his first love, but likes the feeling of just letting his skis run so is Glad to have carried on the faster of the two technical disciplines.
Vinter had been leading the Junior British rankings after the first run but slid on his inside before going very wide and losing much valuable time. To stay on the Junior British podium was impressive for his battling qualities.
Toby Jennings has been quietly raking up the visits to the podium over the course of the National Championships and is certainly benefitting from increased time on snow. Jennings is based at Apex 2100 in Tignes so knows the lie of the land well but he has been one of the stand out performers over the course of the National Championships.
With the first run completed in great conditions, the much anticipated snow fall returned for the second run, providing the racers with reduced visibility and a bumpier course.
This was nature making sure the racers were aware this is a winter sport!
Men's Junior Giant Slalom results
All the action shots from the Men's race can be seen at www.racerready.zenfolio.com