Petra Vlhova put the disappointment of straddling in Levi well and truly behind her as she destroyed the rest of the field under the lights in Courchevel. Despite the weather not being particularly conducive to fast attacking racing. Vlhova was in a class of her own as she overcame first run leader Mikaela Shiffrin to win with Katharina Truppe over two seconds back in third. The top five were rounded out by Katharine Gallhiber and Paula Moltzan.
Shiffrin used bib 1 on run one to huge effect as she set a pace that saw her leading after the first run. The warning signs were there as Vlhova was faster than the American at all the splits and she would have been leading had she not made a mistake that cot her just under half a second mid way day the course. With her coach having set the course, the wide exit at a hairpin that she took, you could only wonder how much it would affect her.
With sleet falling and the course breaking up, the hard work that was put in by the army of workers was commendable, though it did not stop 21 racers crashing out on the first run, including Lena Duerr from Germany.
Run two saw Kristin Lysdahl, a more prominent Giant slalom skier move up from a start number of 45 into 17th after the first run and then set pace. She stayed in the lead until Michelle Gisin came down from 11th after the first run.
The atmosphere was rising despite no French girls challenging for the lead. The local crowd had been excited to see bib 69 come down in the first run and batter her way into the thirty but Clarisse Breche skied intelligently on the second run rot score her second result on the World Cup, finishing 21st.
With Truppe leading in the finish, Vlhiova tore into the second run. If the feeling was that the course was deteriorating then Vlhova was not listening. She extended her advantage at each split and had a massive lead over Truppe in the finish. The pressure was all on the last lady at the start, Mikaela Shiffrin.
Shiffrin had just under two tenths advantage and this started slipping at each split and by the time the American crossed the line, she was a quarter of a second back. Vlhova is back and racing her Rossignol skis in blistering fashion!
Britain's sole racer, Charlie Guest showed some great touches and was in touch of qualification at the top split. After the race she explained "there were some great sections and glimmers of my ability which is obviously super encouraging."
Guest sadly missed the cut bt will be back racing in Lienz between Christmas and New Year.