Hirscher cruises to victory as Kristoffersen seals slalom title in Kranjska

By Published On: March 6th, 2016Comments Off on Hirscher cruises to victory as Kristoffersen seals slalom title in Kranjska

The rain was falling all day in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, for the last World Cup slalom before the finals as Austria’s Marcel Hirscher took his second victory in as many days by 0.81 seconds over Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen in second. Italy’s Stefano Gross took third, 1.11 seconds back.

First run action saw Hirscher leading the race with a sizable 0.75- second margin and looked to be in the driver’s seat in not only the race, but also the discipline standings as he only sat just over 100 points behind Kristoffersen, who found himself in seventh after the first run.

As course crews worked diligently to keep the course in skiable shape during the second run, Kristoffersen laid down a performance fans have grown used to seeing from the young Norwegian phenom, crossing the line well in the lead and poised to make a big jump in the standings. As racer after racer either fell victim to the course or Kristofferson’s blistering pace, Hirscher pushed out of the start and skied relaxed and composed down the rugged course, crossing the line for the win. Kristoffersen’s performance was enough to lock up his first career crystal globe, as he now sits 111 points clear of Hirscher in the slalom standings with only one race to go.

Hirscher was able to race largely pressure-free on Sunday, knowing that he secured the giant slalom and overall titles the day before and realizing that the slalom title was likely out of reach barring a disaster for Kristoffersen. That carefree skiing translated into a win that looked effortless on a day where many racers struggled mightily with the conditions.

“It is a lot of fun,” Hirscher explained in the finish. “Most of the time, I’m always thinking during the skiing, ‘please not to straddle, please not to lose so much time,’ because I need as many points as possible. And today, it was just for fun. It was really great, just an amazing race. Congrats to Henrik for an amazing slalom season, the real and true champion of this season in slalom, and I’ll be back next season!”

For Kristoffersen, Sunday’s runner-up finish caps off what has been a stellar year for the 21-year-old. Six World Cup slalom wins, two second-place finishes, and his first crystal globe. Oh, yeah, and there’s still one more slalom to go in St. Moritz.

“Yeah, I can relax a little bit more,” Kristoffersen said. “I really had to work with myself before second run there. This is maybe the first time in a really long time I had to work really hard with myself and I felt the pressure a little bit. I didn’t feel the pressure from the outside, but from myself. You kind of have to try and forget about the globe a little bit, forget about the slalom standings, because the most important thing is the skiing. I had to work a lot with my head going up the lift for the second run. If you would have asked me if this was going to happen last year, I would have definitely said no.”

Gross claimed his third podium of the season, battling through tough conditions with tenacity and aggression that has become his trademark in recent years.

For the Americans, David Chodounsky led the way with a solid seventh place, bouncing back after a disappointing DNF in the last World Cup slalom in Yuzawa Naeba, Japan, last month. The American now heads into World Cup finals sitting in 12th place in the slalom standings and undoubtedly looks to improve on that ranking before the season comes to a close.

“It’s great, I’m psyched,” Chodounsky said. “Coming down in the lead is always really good and I’m really happy with that. I felt my top was really good with one mistake just before the finish. I feel like that cost me a little time, but that’s OK, I still had a good run.”

Tying Chodounsky in seventh was Swede Mattias Hargin who sat in 30th after the first run. Having nothing to lose, the Swede set the fastest second run time and was able to jump all the way into a top-10 finish with some impressive skiing in tough conditions.

The men’s tour now travels to Scandinavia for downhill and super G races in Kvitfjell, Norway, March 10-13.


The Scoop
By Hank McKee

1. Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2. Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
3. Gross, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker
4. Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
5. Schwarz, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6. Pinturault, Head/Head/Head
7. Chodounsky, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
7. Hargin, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
9. Myhrer, Head/Head/Head
10. Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

  • Men’s World Cup slalom, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, March 6, 2016. … It is the 38th race of the men’s 45 race schedule. … The 10th of 11 slaloms (ninth of 10 remaining on the schedule after the cancellation of Levi in November). … It is the 86th World Cup race hosted by Kranjska Gora and the 44th slalom. … The race is part of the 55th Pokal Vitranc Cup series. … Henrik Kristoffersen is the defending champion. … Marcel Hirscher has never previously won a slalom at Kranjska Gora.
  • It is the 39th career World Cup win for Marcel Hirscher, his eighth of the season. … It is his 18th career slalom win and second slalom win of the season. The winning margin is 0.81 of a second. … Top two are within the same second. … Top 11 within two seconds. … It is his first slalom victory at Kranjska Gora but his second win in two days at the site.
  • It is the 23rd career World Cup podium for Henrik Kristoffersen. … His 12th of the season.
  • It is the ninth career World Cup podium for Stefano Gross. … His third of the season having also been third in slalom at Wengen and in the city event at Stockholm.
  • David Chodounsky matches his third best career World Cup placing. … It is his third top 10 of the season.
  • Marcel Hirscher extends his lead of the World Cup overall standings to 1625-1272 over Kristoffersen. … Alexis Pinturault (sixth in race) is third overall with 1080.
  • Kristoffersen leads the slalom standings 811-700 over Hirscher. … With a single slalom remaining he cannot be beaten for the title. … Felix Neureuther (DNF 2nd) is third in the slalom standings with 363pts.
  • Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 5123-4816 over France. … Norway is third at 4191pts. … The U.S. is seventh with 1781pts and Canada tenth at 524pts.

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  7  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  51.72  54.52  1:46.24  0.00
 2  6  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  52.68  54.37  1:47.05  +0.81  5.49
 3  3  293797 GROSS Stefano 1986 ITA  52.53  54.82  1:47.35  +1.11  7.52
 4  1  202462 DOPFER Fritz 1987 GER  52.51  54.99  1:47.50  +1.26  8.54
 5  14  54320 SCHWARZ Marco 1995 AUT  53.14  54.37  1:47.51  +1.27  8.61
 6  15  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  53.28  54.42  1:47.70  +1.46  9.89
 7  17  534508 CHODOUNSKY David 1984 USA  53.44  54.39  1:47.83  +1.59  10.78
 7  5  501111 HARGIN Mattias 1985 SWE  53.86  53.97  1:47.83  +1.59  10.78
 9  12  501017 MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  53.01  55.06  1:48.07  +1.83  12.40
 10  20  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  53.15  55.03  1:48.18  +1.94  13.15
 11  4  480736 KHOROSHILOV Alexander 1984 RUS  53.31  54.89  1:48.20  +1.96  13.28
 12  23  201896 STEHLE Dominik 1986 GER  53.43  54.84  1:48.27  +2.03  13.76
 13  10  192665 GRANGE Jean-Baptiste 1984 FRA  52.73  55.56  1:48.29  +2.05  13.89
 14  29  54170 MATT Michael 1993 AUT  53.61  54.70  1:48.31  +2.07  14.03
 14  18  51395 DIGRUBER Marc 1988 AUT  53.30  55.01  1:48.31  +2.07  14.03
 16  8  511996 YULE Daniel 1993 SUI  53.77  54.55  1:48.32  +2.08  14.10
 17  37  202451 STRASSER Linus 1992 GER  53.71  54.67  1:48.38  +2.14  14.50
 18  25  501116 LAHDENPERAE Anton 1985 SWE  53.73  54.93  1:48.66  +2.42  16.40
 19  32  194262 BUFFET Robin 1991 FRA  53.64  55.07  1:48.71  +2.47  16.74
 20  30  421669 HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR  53.73  55.08  1:48.81  +2.57  17.42
 21  13  422082 FOSS-SOLEVAAG Sebastian 1991 NOR  52.82  56.11  1:48.93  +2.69  18.23
 22  19  501101 BYGGMARK Jens 1985 SWE  53.82  55.24  1:49.06  +2.82  19.11
 23  26  511902 ZENHAEUSERN Ramon 1992 SUI  53.75  55.38  1:49.13  +2.89  19.59
 24  22  220689 RYDING Dave 1986 GBR  53.69  55.60  1:49.29  +3.05  20.67
 25  35  301709 YUASA Naoki 1983 JPN  53.81  55.83  1:49.64  +3.40  23.04
 26  27  511983 AERNI Luca 1993 SUI  53.85  58.86  1:52.71  +6.47  43.85
Did not start 1st run
 56  380290 SAMSAL Dalibor 1985 HUN
 53  380334 VIDOVIC Matej 1993 CRO
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 80  800013 TOLA Erjon 1986 ALB
 79  240139 KEKESI Marton 1995 HUN
 78  710353 SLJIVIC Marko 1996 BIH
 76  561244 KRANJEC Zan 1992 SLO
 74  410365 BARWOOD Adam 1992 NZL
 73  561217 KOSI Klemen 1991 SLO
 71  700868 FALAT Matej 1993 SVK
 70  202437 LUITZ Stefan 1992 GER
 68  511896 MURISIER Justin 1992 SUI
 67  380335 ZUBCIC Filip 1993 CRO
 66  50605 HERBST Reinfried 1978 AUT
 64  561296 SPIK Jakob 1994 SLO
 63  103676 BROWN Phil 1991 CAN
 62  561291 GROSELJ Zan 1993 SLO
 61  54252 RASCHNER Dominik 1994 AUT
 60  194207 THEOLIER Steven 1990 FRA
 59  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO
 58  511899 ROCHAT Marc 1992 SUI
 55  561117 KUERNER Miha 1987 SLO
 54  291145 DEVILLE Cristian 1981 ITA
 52  511908 SCHMIDIGER Reto 1992 SUI
 50  150644 KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE
 49  193986 PLACE Francois 1989 FRA
 48  934523 ENGEL Mark 1991 USA
 47  6531063 GINNIS AJ 1994 USA
 46  50981 HOERL Wolfgang 1983 AUT
 45  930160 KELLEY Robby 1990 USA
 43  421954 LYSDAHL Espen 1990 NOR
 42  180567 RASANEN Joonas 1989 FIN
 41  192506 MISSILLIER Steve 1984 FRA
 40  530837 KELLEY Tim 1986 USA
 39  561148 SKUBE Matic 1988 SLO
 38  934502 ANKENY Michael 1991 USA
 36  103865 PHILP Trevor 1992 CAN
 34  511127 GINI Marc 1984 SUI
 31  291318 TONETTI Riccardo 1989 ITA
 28  501223 BAECK Axel 1987 SWE
 24  54063 FELLER Manuel 1992 AUT
 16  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA
Did not finish 2nd run
 57  53889 HIRSCHBUEHL Christian 1990 AUT
 11  290732 THALER Patrick 1978 ITA
 9  191459 LIZEROUX Julien 1979 FRA
 2  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix 1984 GER
Did not finish 1st run
 77  430617 CHRAPEK Adam 1993 POL
 75  30149 SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier 1980 ARG
 72  481103 ANDRIENKO Aleksander 1990 RUS
 69  6290183 RONCI Giordano 1992 ITA
 65  60160 ALAERTS Kai 1989 BEL
 51  290095 BALLERIN Andrea 1989 ITA
 44  934566 ROBERTS Hig 1991 USA
 33  700830 ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK
 21  421860 NORDBOTTEN Jonathan 1989 NOR

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About the Author: Sean Higgins

A Lake Tahoe native and University of Vermont graduate, Higgins was a member of the Catamounts' 2012 NCAA title winning squad and earned first team All-American honors in 2013. Prior to coming to Ski Racing Media, he coached U14s for the Squaw Valley Ski Team.