Pinturault upsets Hirscher in Wengen slalom

By Published On: January 19th, 2014Comments Off on Pinturault upsets Hirscher in Wengen slalom
Alexis Pinturault in Wengen (GEPA/Mario Kneisl)

Alexis Pinturault in Wengen (GEPA/Mario Kneisl)

One error at the most inopportune time cost Marcel Hirscher his first win at Wengen and paved the way for Frenchman Alexis Pinturault to secure his second-career slalom win. German Felix Neureuther claimed second and Hirscher had to settle for third.

It was the fourth time in World Cup history a Frenchman won the Wengen slalom, the first since Jean-Baptist Grange roared through the 2008 season.

After the first run, most expected Hirscher to wrap up the win on the Maennlichen/Jungfrau slopes. He carried a .23 of a second lead over Swede Andre Myhrer with Neureuther third .64 back and Mario Matt another two tenths back. Pinturault was only seventh after the first run and sat .88 behind Hirscher. It was not the scenario he had hoped for. But it all changed dramatically with the second run.

The French held two of the top three positions when Pinturault skied, and he raced with confidence and little pressure, extending his lead throughout his run and turning up the jets down the last steep where a long flush above the finish waited to catch many of the competitors. “Pintu” finished with a .86 lead and tentatively took his position in the leaders’ box to watch the six fastest of the morning challenge has time.

Matt, already assured a spot on the Austrian Olympic team due to his early season successes, was skiing well and comfortably when the tricky course and perhaps a patch of soft snow caught him off guard and required an amazingly athletic recovery just to stay on course. Perhaps sensing he needed to do more than required, Matt pressed hard, finishing second, three quarters of a second back.

Neureuther worked well with his first run lead and even built upon it, but seemed to get a bit conservative, particularly on the final section where his time slipped back.

Myhrer had lost all of his advantage by the third interval timer and drained away ever more quickly until he came through the finish line .81 off the Frenchman and into fifth place.

That left only Hirscher, who until today has shown no weakness over the past two seasons. He lost ground fractionally along the length of the course, then lost pressure on his ski just above the flush on the final pitch, a gasp audible from the thousands watching at Wengen. He recovered and worked through to the finish but too much damage had been sustained. He finished behind both Pinturault and Neureuther for third place, more than a half second back.

Pinturault leapt into the finish area, dancing to the throb of the large crowd’s roar.

The win was the fifth of his career and the second in slalom.

The only American to gain a second run was Bode Miller, the 26th finisher at the end of the day. It was his first time back in the slalom points since 2011.

“Today was good for a few reasons. It was good to see Bode back in the slalom points and we added another quota spot in slalom, which is something we’ve been struggling to get. It’s also another full race run for him which helps as we get ready for Kitzbuehel and the Olympics,” said head men’s coach Sasha Rearick. “Ted was skiing fast when he got shot out at the bottom of a flush, he got back in the course and finished, but lost way too much time to make the final. Daver [Chodounsky] was also skiing really well when a flukey thing happened. A gate snapped down on his tips causing them to cross and him to crash. It’s a tough one for him because he’s been skiing really well and had a shot at getting into the top 15 in slalom.”

Canada’s Michael Janyk finished 23rd as the only other North American in the second run.

To view photos from this race click here.

 

The Scoop

Men’s World Cup slalom, Wengen, Switzerland, Jan. 19, 2014

Equipment – Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Pinturault, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

2 Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker

3 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

4 Matt, Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker

5 Thaler, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

6 Myhrer, Nordica/Nordica/

7 Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/

8 Grange, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

9 Missillier, Dynastar/Lange/Look

10 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

Men’s World Cup slalom, Wengen, Switzerland, Jan. 19, 2014. … It is the 19th of 34 races on the men’s World Cup schedule. … The fifth of nine scheduled slaloms. … Part of the 84th Lauberhorn. … It is the 101st World Cup race hosted by Wengen… the 35th slalom.

It is the fifth career World Cup win for Alexis Pinturault, his second in slalom after a Dec. 8, 2012 win at Val d’Isere. … It is his second win at Wengen having claimed the 2012 combined. … He joins Jean-Claude Killy, Patrick Russel, Jean-Noel Augert and Jean Baptiste Grange as French who have won the slalom at Wengen in the World Cup era and Guy Perillat pre-World Cup. … It is the first win of the season for Pinturault though he has recorded three second-place finishes.

It is the 24th career World Cup podium for Felix Neureuther, the 19th in slalom. … He won the Wengen slalom last season. … It is his third podium of the season, all gained in January.

It is the 54th career World Cup podium for Marcel Hirscher… his ninth of the season in ten completed races. He has been on the podium in four of five slaloms and five of five GS’s.

It is he sixth best career result at Wengen for Michael Janyk… his third scoing result of the season, all of them finishes in the 20’s. … It is the eighth career slalom scoring finish at Wengen for Bode Miller. … His first slalom result of the season. … It is his first slalom result since 2011.

Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall atandings 757-735 over Marcel Hirscher. … Alexis Pinturault moves into third overall with 506pts, bumping Ted Ligety (DSQ 1st run in race) to fourth with 433pts. … Bode Miller is eighth with 309pts. … Erik Guay (did not race) is top Canadian overall in tenth with 261pts.

Hirscher maintains control of he slalom standings 340-250 over Mario Matt (fourth in race). … Mattias Hargin (18th in race) is third in the slalom standings with 233pts. … David Chodounsky (DNF 1st) is top U.S. skier in slalom standings in 16th with 84pts. … Janyk leads the Canadians in 27th with 29pts.

Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 3053-2116 over France. … Italy is third with 1835pts. … The U.S. men rank sixth with 1131pts and Canada ninth with 671pts.

 

Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  16  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  52.10  50.77  1:42.87  0.00
 2  2  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix 1984 GER  51.86  51.35  1:43.21  +0.34  2.05
 3  3  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  51.22  52.28  1:43.50  +0.63  3.80
 4  7  50707 MATT Mario 1979 AUT  51.91  51.71  1:43.62  +0.75  4.52
 5  13  290732 THALER Patrick 1978 ITA  52.40  51.23  1:43.63  +0.76  4.58
 6  1  501017 MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  51.45  52.23  1:43.68  +0.81  4.88
 7  11  202462 DOPFER Fritz 1987 GER  51.94  51.77  1:43.71  +0.84  5.06
 8  8  192665 GRANGE Jean-Baptiste 1984 FRA  52.17  51.63  1:43.80  +0.93  5.61
 9  19  192506 MISSILLIER Steve 1984 FRA  52.77  51.23  1:44.00  +1.13  6.81
 10  4  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  51.99  52.02  1:44.01  +1.14  6.87
 11  14  500656 LARSSON Markus 1979 SWE  52.70  51.46  1:44.16  +1.29  7.77
 12  10  293797 GROSS Stefano 1986 ITA  52.41  51.85  1:44.26  +1.39  8.38
 13  15  50605 HERBST Reinfried 1978 AUT  52.20  52.07  1:44.27  +1.40  8.44
 14  26  501223 BAECK Axel 1987 SWE  52.55  51.90  1:44.45  +1.58  9.52
 15  9  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  52.32  52.16  1:44.48  +1.61  9.70
 16  12  50625 RAICH Benjamin 1978 AUT  52.49  52.04  1:44.53  +1.66  10.00
 17  25  560355 VALENCIC Mitja 1978 SLO  53.06  51.55  1:44.61  +1.74  10.49
 18  6  501111 HARGIN Mattias 1985 SWE  52.16  52.52  1:44.68  +1.81  10.91
 19  32  291145 DEVILLE Cristian 1981 ITA  53.46  51.35  1:44.81  +1.94  11.69
 20  31  511983 AERNI Luca 1993 SUI  53.45  51.48  1:44.93  +2.06  12.42
 21  41  191459 LIZEROUX Julien 1979 FRA  53.84  51.40  1:45.24  +2.37  14.28
 22  34  54063 FELLER Manuel 1992 AUT  53.87  51.49  1:45.36  +2.49  15.01
 23  28  102435 JANYK Michael 1982 CAN  54.00  51.47  1:45.47  +2.60  15.67
 24  22  50624 PRANGER Manfred 1978 AUT  53.88  51.80  1:45.68  +2.81  16.94
 25  23  480736 KHOROSHILOV Alexander 1984 RUS  54.47  51.30  1:45.77  +2.90  17.48
 26  33  532431 MILLER Bode 1977 USA  53.84  52.01  1:45.85  +2.98  17.96
 27  49  511902 ZENHAEUSERN Ramon 1992 SUI  54.55  51.38  1:45.93  +3.06  18.44
 28  40  422082 SOLEVAAG Sebastian-Foss 1991 NOR  54.63  51.52  1:46.15  +3.28  19.77
 29  61  380292 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 1986 CRO  54.40  57.74  1:52.14  +9.27  55.87
Disqualified 1st run
 17  534562 LIGETY Ted 1984 USA
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 65  30149 SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier 1980 ARG
 64  192943 OBERT Anthony 1985 FRA
 62  150594 TREJBAL Filip 1985 CZE
 59  512014 NIEDERBERGER Bernhard 1993 SUI
 57  193334 RIVAS Gabriel 1986 FRA
 55  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA
 54  103646 ZAITSOFF Sasha 1990 CAN
 53  511127 GINI Marc 1984 SUI
 51  150644 KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE
 48  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas 1984 FRA
 47  291318 TONETTI Riccardo 1989 ITA
 45  220689 RYDING David 1986 GBR
 43  102912 SPENCE Brad 1984 CAN
 39  301312 SASAKI Akira 1981 JPN
 38  501116 LAHDENPERAE Anton 1985 SWE
 35  530165 BRANDENBURG Will 1987 USA
 30  700830 ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK
 5  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO
Did not finish 2nd run
 42  511996 YULE Daniel 1993 SUI
Did not finish 1st run
 67  670037 ZAKURDAEV Igor 1987 KAZ
 66  430429 BYDLINSKI Maciej 1988 POL
 63  990048 BORSOTTI Giovanni 1990 ITA
 60  300804 MINAGAWA Kentaro 1977 JPN
 58  511896 MURISIER Justin 1992 SUI
 56  561148 SKUBE Matic 1988 SLO
 52  530837 KELLEY Tim 1986 USA
 50  103676 BROWN Philip 1991 CAN
 46  102239 COUSINEAU Julien 1981 CAN
 44  51395 DIGRUBER Marc 1988 AUT
 37  102727 STUTZ Paul 1983 CAN
 36  421860 NORDBOTTEN Jonathan 1989 NOR
 29  50981 HOERL Wolfgang 1983 AUT
 27  421669 HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR
 24  511174 VOGEL Markus 1984 SUI
 21  534508 CHODOUNSKY David 1984 USA
 20  293098 RAZZOLI Giuliano 1984 ITA
 18  301709 YUASA Naoki 1983 JPN

 

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”