Kranjec Claims Adelboden Giant Slalom
Saturday in Adelboden, Switzerland, Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec won the second race of his career, his first win since Saalbach in December, 2018. Kranjec has already had some solid finishes this season, earning a podium in Alta Badia and Soelden. But his win today speaks volumes to the 27-year-old’s improvement. Under perfect conditions and a straighter course set on the first run, Saturday’s giant slalom was any man’s game. Times were tight, and multiple men from later bibs had a chance to make a play for the podium.
Kranjec sat in sixth after his first run, 0.24 seconds off of Italian Luca de Aliprandini. But unlike some of his competitors, Kranjec did not step off the gas coming into the final pitch of the course (a section where many racers lost time before crossing the finish line). By skiing the second-fastest second run of the day, he was able to slide in front of Croatia’s Filip Zubcic and win the whole show.
“To win Adelboden giant slalom means even more because it’s one of the most prestigious races of the season for GS,” said Kranjec. “It’s hard to tell what is different from last year or seasons before. I’ve skied good the past two years, but now I can put out my best skiing every race. I hope I can stay the leader for the rest of the season.”
Zubcic joined him on the podium in second, marking the first such result his career. Henrik Kristoffersen and Victor Muffat-Jeandet shared the third step on the podium, 0.64 seconds off of Kranjec. The men who carried some surprising speed into the top 10 after the first run were unable to hold onto their spots, such as bib 53, Italy’s Giovanni Borsotti, who had been sitting in second, and Canada’s Erik Read, who had been sitting in fourth alongside Mathieu Faivre.
The men skiing in both disciplines on the tech circuit have already had two other races this week, one in Zagreb on Sunday and another in Madonna di Campiglio on Wednesday. But Kristoffersen said this high volume of racing in one week, should not be a factor as long as athletes are fit. It does make it difficult, but it won’t decide who wins at the end of the day.
“This is the third race now in one week, and a lot of traveling, so it makes it more difficult, but that’s just how it is,” said Kristoffersen. “It’s equal for a lot of people, not for everyone, but for a lot of people. Today was not a really good day. I struggled with the set up in both the runs, so I didn’t really feel comfortable. I’m glad to be on the podium on a bad day kind of. Really happy to be on the podium, but still kind of disappointed with my skiing.”
For tomorrow, as he heads into the slalom, Kristoffersen says the game plan is to “stop complaining and just go for it.” Even though it will be the fourth race in one week for him and many others, he says it’s their job to ski fast and put on a show, and that’s just the way it is.
Top finishers of the day for the Americans were Ted Ligety, finishing in seventh, and Ryan Cochran-Seigle, who finished 18th. River Radamus finished just outside of the top 30 in 31st, two-hundredths off of Italy’s Manfred Moelgg.
For Ligety, his finish in Adelboden is his second-best finish of the season. He was satisfied, given his past struggles on the Adelboden track, but hoping for something a bit more. Ligety has said publicly he does not want to continue to keep ski racing if he cannot continue to be competitive. And this season, the 35-year-old has chosen to limit his schedule to just the giant slalom in order to be able to preserve his body, and spend more time at home in Park City, Utah with his wife and his son.
“For me, being older, I definitely need the reset on the body, but also my son is two and a half and the past few years he’s been traveling and he needs to do more than just see hotel rooms,” said Ligety. “He needs to spend time at home and get into a routine. So they’re not traveling and with that, I can’t spend more than two weeks away, it’s just too hard. So it’s nice going back and forth.”
For guys like Cochran-Siegle and Norway’s Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who are tackling more robust schedules skiing across multiple disciplines, top 20 finishes in the giant slalom are solid results, given the time off between Alta Badia and Adelboden. Cochran-Siegle improved in his second run, moving into 18th after finishing 26th his first run. Kilde moved into fifth after having finished 16th his first run.
The United State’s Tommy Ford still sits in the top five of the giant slalom standings, despite skiing out his first run of the day and not finishing in Alta Badia. Alexis Pinturault sits in third, just 11 points ahead of Ford.
Italy’s Manfred Moelgg was the only athlete to obtain an injury in the Adelboden GS. During his second run, he was unable to finish the course. He grasped his knee in pain and has since been taken to the hospital in Oberland. As of press time, further details on his injury have yet to be released.
Top 10
- 1. Zan Kranjec (SLO): 2:27.90 – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- 2. Filip Zubcic (CRO): +0.29 – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- 3. Victor Muffat-Jeandet (FRA): +0.64 – Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
- 3. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR): +0.64 – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- 5. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR): +0.66 Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
- 6. Roland Leitinger (AUT): +0.91 – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
- 7. Ted Ligety (USA): +0.95 – Head/Head/Head
- 8. Mathieu Faivre (FRA): +1.01 – Head/Head/Head
- 9. Fabian Wilkens Solheim (NOR): +1.19 – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
- 10. Alexis Pinturault (FRA): +1.21 – Head/Head/Head
For full race results, click here.
About the Author: Mackenzie Moran
