Kristoffersen Breaks Through in Kitzbuehel Slalom
Slalom skiing or powder skiing? At times it looked like both on Sunday for the slalom in Kitzbuehel, Austria. Steady precipitation throughout the day made for ultra-challenging conditions as the men took on arguably the toughest slalom hill on the World Cup.
When all was said and done, Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen was finally able to break through and secure his first victory of the season after finishing on the podium in every other slalom race this year. Kristoffersen and Austria’s Michael Matt ran away with the first run and sat nearly an entire second ahead of the rest of the field going into the second run. With Matt skiing out midway down his afternoon run, it was Kristoffersen’s race to lose.
“It’s pretty cool,” a composed Kristoffersen said after the race. “I’m really happy about today. If you take away the two dual slalom races, it’s 10 podiums in 11 (slalom and giant slalom) races so it’s not too bad, it’s seven podiums in seven slalom races so I can’t complain too much.”
Kristoffersen claimed his first win of the season and Yule the first podium of his career. Image Credit: GEPA Pictures/Christian Walgram
Austrian defending champion Marcel Hirscher was able to muster a second-place finish after a lackluster (by his standards) opening run and Switzerland’s Daniel Yule landed on his first World Cup podium in third with some inspired skiing in the second run.
“I am super happy with the second place for today,” Hirscher said. “First run was definitely not what I was expecting; Henrik and Michael Matt were definitely one class better than the rest of the field. I’m absolutely happy with the second run, that was good skiing but way too far behind Henrik so I think he deserved this victory today.”
This year in slalom has undoubtedly been the Hirscher and Kristoffersen show, and Yule was more than pleased to find himself on the podium behind two racers at the top of their game.
“If I could have chosen any place to get my first podium, I think Kitzbuehel would be pretty high on the list,” Yule shared after the race. “I think today I can count as the first human behind the two aliens, Marcel and Henrik. I think they’re just skiing at such a high level at the moment in slalom that for me, this third place counts as a win.”
Chodounsky led the Americans in 15th place. Image Credit: GEPA Pictures/Mario Buehner
David Chodounsky led the Americans in 15th place on an otherwise tough day for the Stars and Stripes. After throwing his back out last week in Wengen, Switzerland, there was some doubt as to whether Chodounsky would even be healthy enough to start. Thankfully, some much-needed physiotherapy in the days leading up to the race was able to loosen his back up enough to make the most of Sunday’s race.
“After the rough January that I’ve had, it’s my first finish since December so I’m really happy,” said Chocounsky. “I stuck to my game plan and did what I wanted. I definitely could have pushed a little more that second run but had a solid run, 15th place, top 15, not bad. There’s another race coming up so this is just a confidence boost, a little builder to get some World Cup points and make sure I’m still in the top 30 so I can go hammer. I had plenty in reserve today; it’s just good, solid skiing and that was my game plan so I came out here and did what I had to do so I’m happy with that.”
Mark Engel and AJ Ginnis did not qualify for a second run and Nolan Kasper and Hig Roberts did not finish their first runs making Chodounsky the only American finisher.
The men now head to Schladming, Austria, for more slalom in the iconic Night Race on Tuesday, Jan. 23.
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Top 10
1. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
2. Marcel Hirscher (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3. Daniel Yule (SUI) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4. Victor Muffat-Jeandet (FRA) – Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5. Manuel Feller (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6. Ramon Zenhaeusern (SUI) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
7. Jonathan Nordbotten (NOR) – Head/Head/Head
8. Clement Noel (FRA) – Dynastar/Lange/Look
9. Dave Ryding (GBR) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
9. Manfred Moelgg (ITA) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
Official Results
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Run 1 | Run 2 | Total Time | Diff. | FIS Points | WC Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6 | 422304 | KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik | 1994 | NOR | 55.87 | 52.62 | 1:48.49 | 0.00 | 100 | |
| 2 | 2 | 53831 | HIRSCHER Marcel | 1989 | AUT | 56.92 | 52.54 | 1:49.46 | +0.97 | 6.44 | 80 |
| 3 | 3 | 511996 | YULE Daniel | 1993 | SUI | 57.10 | 52.74 | 1:49.84 | +1.35 | 8.96 | 60 |
| 4 | 24 | 193967 | MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor | 1989 | FRA | 57.95 | 52.70 | 1:50.65 | +2.16 | 14.33 | 50 |
| 5 | 15 | 54063 | FELLER Manuel | 1992 | AUT | 57.97 | 52.74 | 1:50.71 | +2.22 | 14.73 | 45 |
| 6 | 20 | 511902 | ZENHAEUSERN Ramon | 1992 | SUI | 57.65 | 53.18 | 1:50.83 | +2.34 | 15.53 | 40 |
| 7 | 22 | 421860 | NORDBOTTEN Jonathan | 1989 | NOR | 58.36 | 52.68 | 1:51.04 | +2.55 | 16.92 | 36 |
| 8 | 47 | 6190403 | NOEL Clement | 1997 | FRA | 58.34 | 52.78 | 1:51.12 | +2.63 | 17.45 | 32 |
| 9 | 14 | 220689 | RYDING Dave | 1986 | GBR | 58.76 | 52.52 | 1:51.28 | +2.79 | 18.52 | 29 |
| 9 | 7 | 292491 | MOELGG Manfred | 1982 | ITA | 58.22 | 53.06 | 1:51.28 | +2.79 | 18.52 | 29 |
| 11 | 1 | 293797 | GROSS Stefano | 1986 | ITA | 57.57 | 53.83 | 1:51.40 | +2.91 | 19.31 | 24 |
| 12 | 18 | 421669 | NESTVOLD-HAUGEN Leif Kristian | 1987 | NOR | 57.56 | 53.95 | 1:51.51 | +3.02 | 20.04 | 22 |
| 13 | 19 | 192665 | GRANGE Jean-Baptiste | 1984 | FRA | 57.82 | 53.71 | 1:51.53 | +3.04 | 20.18 | 20 |
| 14 | 16 | 191459 | LIZEROUX Julien | 1979 | FRA | 58.02 | 53.57 | 1:51.59 | +3.10 | 20.57 | 18 |
| 15 | 29 | 534508 | CHODOUNSKY David | 1984 | USA | 58.24 | 53.38 | 1:51.62 | +3.13 | 20.77 | 16 |
| 16 | 17 | 54320 | SCHWARZ Marco | 1995 | AUT | 57.87 | 53.86 | 1:51.73 | +3.24 | 21.50 | 15 |
| 16 | 10 | 501111 | HARGIN Mattias | 1985 | SWE | 58.05 | 53.68 | 1:51.73 | +3.24 | 21.50 | 15 |
| 18 | 12 | 202462 | DOPFER Fritz | 1987 | GER | 58.94 | 52.97 | 1:51.91 | +3.42 | 22.70 | 13 |
| 19 | 26 | 51395 | DIGRUBER Marc | 1988 | AUT | 58.12 | 54.01 | 1:52.13 | +3.64 | 24.16 | 12 |
| 20 | 36 | 380334 | VIDOVIC Matej | 1993 | CRO | 58.98 | 53.83 | 1:52.81 | +4.32 | 28.67 | 11 |
| 21 | 42 | 700830 | ZAMPA Adam | 1990 | SVK | 59.10 | 54.19 | 1:53.29 | +4.80 | 31.86 | 10 |
| 22 | 41 | 6291574 | SALA Tommaso | 1995 | ITA | 59.08 | 54.57 | 1:53.65 | +5.16 | 34.24 | 9 |
| Did not finish 2nd run | |||||||||||
| 62 | 54252 | RASCHNER Dominik | 1994 | AUT | 58.44 | 0 | |||||
| 34 | 202485 | KETTERER David | 1993 | GER | 58.58 | 0 | |||||
| 33 | 511899 | ROCHAT Marc | 1992 | SUI | 58.53 | 0 | |||||
| 21 | 53889 | HIRSCHBUEHL Christian | 1990 | AUT | 59.06 | 0 | |||||
| 13 | 422082 | FOSS-SOLEVAAG Sebastian | 1991 | NOR | 57.59 | 0 | |||||
| 11 | 511983 | AERNI Luca | 1993 | SUI | 58.57 | 0 | |||||
| 5 | 501017 | MYHRER Andre | 1983 | SWE | 57.79 | 0 | |||||
| 4 | 54170 | MATT Michael | 1993 | AUT | 55.97 | 0 | |||||
| Did not qualify for 2nd run | |||||||||||
| 76 | 960300 | GOUTT Yohan Goncalves | 1994 | TLS | 1:15.19 | 0 | |||||
| 74 | 54106 | BREITFUSS KAMMERLANDER Simon | 1992 | BOL | 1:04.74 | 0 | |||||
| 73 | 54444 | GSTREIN Fabio | 1997 | AUT | 1:00.92 | 0 | |||||
| 69 | 221236 | TAYLOR Laurie | 1996 | GBR | 1:00.25 | 0 | |||||
| 66 | 491853 | DEL CAMPO Juan | 1994 | ESP | 1:00.13 | 0 | |||||
| 65 | 350095 | PFIFFNER Marco | 1994 | LIE | 1:01.51 | 0 | |||||
| 63 | 400235 | WINKELHORST Steffan | 1992 | NED | 1:00.40 | 0 | |||||
| 61 | 291318 | TONETTI Riccardo | 1989 | ITA | 1:00.04 | 0 | |||||
| 58 | 380363 | KOLEGA Elias | 1996 | CRO | 1:00.01 | 0 | |||||
| 56 | 150644 | KRYZL Krystof | 1986 | CZE | 59.92 | 0 | |||||
| 55 | 6291631 | LIBERATORE Federico | 1995 | ITA | 59.34 | 0 | |||||
| 54 | 201891 | SCHMID Philipp | 1986 | GER | 59.30 | 0 | |||||
| 50 | 302982 | OHKOSHI Ryunosuke | 1988 | JPN | 1:01.02 | 0 | |||||
| 48 | 512138 | SIMONET Sandro | 1995 | SUI | 59.43 | 0 | |||||
| 45 | 6531063 | GINNIS AJ | 1994 | USA | 1:02.09 | 0 | |||||
| 43 | 201896 | STEHLE Dominik | 1986 | GER | 59.35 | 0 | |||||
| 40 | 103865 | PHILP Trevor | 1992 | CAN | 59.37 | 0 | |||||
| 39 | 103676 | BROWN Phil | 1991 | CAN | 59.68 | 0 | |||||
| 37 | 934523 | ENGEL Mark | 1991 | USA | 59.51 | 0 | |||||
| 32 | 202520 | HOLZMANN Sebastian | 1993 | GER | 59.62 | 0 | |||||
| 31 | 561322 | HADALIN Stefan | 1995 | SLO | 59.31 | 0 | |||||
| 28 | 290732 | THALER Patrick | 1978 | ITA | 59.68 | 0 | |||||
| 27 | 103729 | READ Erik | 1991 | CAN | 59.22 | 0 | |||||
| Did not finish 1st run | |||||||||||
| 75 | 170151 | DYRBYE NAESTED Casper | 1996 | DEN | 0 | ||||||
| 72 | 550054 | ZVEJNIEKS Kristaps | 1992 | LAT | 0 | ||||||
| 71 | 481103 | ANDRIENKO Aleksander | 1990 | RUS | 0 | ||||||
| 70 | 700868 | FALAT Matej | 1993 | SVK | 0 | ||||||
| 68 | 303097 | ISHII Tomoya | 1989 | JPN | 0 | ||||||
| 67 | 180567 | RASANEN Joonas | 1989 | FIN | 0 | ||||||
| 64 | 194664 | RIZZO Maxime | 1993 | FRA | 0 | ||||||
| 60 | 380290 | SAMSAL Dalibor | 1985 | HUN | 0 | ||||||
| 59 | 561244 | KRANJEC Zan | 1992 | SLO | 0 | ||||||
| 57 | 934566 | ROBERTS Hig | 1991 | USA | 0 | ||||||
| 53 | 532138 | KASPER Nolan | 1989 | USA | 0 | ||||||
| 51 | 54093 | STROLZ Johannes | 1992 | AUT | 0 | ||||||
| 49 | 502015 | JAKOBSEN Kristoffer | 1994 | SWE | 0 | ||||||
| 46 | 293098 | RAZZOLI Giuliano | 1984 | ITA | 0 | ||||||
| 44 | 54245 | HETTEGGER Thomas | 1994 | AUT | 0 | ||||||
| 38 | 320266 | JUNG Donghyun | 1988 | KOR | 0 | ||||||
| 35 | 481327 | TRIKHICHEV Pavel | 1992 | RUS | 0 | ||||||
| 30 | 194262 | BUFFET Robin | 1991 | FRA | 0 | ||||||
| 25 | 202451 | STRASSER Linus | 1992 | GER | 0 | ||||||
| 23 | 512182 | MEILLARD Loic | 1996 | SUI | 0 | ||||||
| 9 | 194364 | PINTURAULT Alexis | 1991 | FRA | 0 | ||||||
| 8 | 480736 | KHOROSHILOV Alexander | 1984 | RUS | 0 | ||||||
| Disqualified 1st run | |||||||||||
| 52 | 6290886 | BACHER Fabian | 1993 | ITA | 0 | ||||||
About the Author: Sean Higgins
