Neureuther takes first win of the season in rain-soaked Yuzawa Naeba slalom

World Cup action in the Far East concluded on Sunday with the slalom in Yuzawa Naeba, Japan. Germany’s Felix Neureuther took his first win of the season with a two-run time of 1:50.93 seconds, just 0.05 seconds ahead of Swede Andre Myhrer in second. Rising young Austrian Marco Schwarz found the podium for the second time this season, finishing in third, 0.24 seconds off of Neureuther’s pace.

The day started out under warm and sunny skies, with freshly salted snow awaiting the racers. Things were shaken up a bit in the first run as overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher straddled only four gates into his run, ending his day prematurely. Henrik Kristoffersen, who has been nothing short of dominant in slalom this season, looked uncharacteristically off his game and found himself sitting in eighth. Neureuther was fifth after the first run, 0.56 seconds off of the pace set by his teammate, Fritz Dopfer, who led after the morning’s run for the second day in a row.

Second run conditions were drastically different as clouds rolled in and rain and fog increased as the run order progressed. Much like Saturday’s giant slalom, second run action was exciting as many early racers made big leaps in the standings and later starters struggled with the deteriorating course and visibility.

Neureuther exploded out of the starting gate and attacked the course with perhaps some residual aggression from the last slalom in Schladming, Austria, where he straddled a gate within sight of the finish while threatening for the victory. With Dopfer once again unable to hold his first run lead, sliding to fourth, and Kristoffersen unable to conjure up more second run magic, Neureuther took the well-deserved victory.

“I tried to risk everything,” Neureuther explained in the finish. “The conditions didn’t get better with the rain, you couldn’t see anything. I just thought, ‘Alright, I have to let the skis go.’ My first part wasn’t that good and then I tried to push really hard on the last parts and this worked out perfectly for me.”

The day was made even more special for Neureuther as his father, Christian, was on the slalom podium in Naeba 41 years ago, finishing in third behind current singing sensation Hans Hinterseer of Austria and the legendary Swede Ingemar Stenmark.

“It’s so cool, 41 years ago he was on the podium here,” Neureuther added. “I was talking to him yesterday and we were joking about what he looked like and he said, ‘You can be proud of your dad because 41 years ago he was here on the podium behind Stenmark.’ Today I won, so the next family chapter for us.”

Sunday’s result marked the first time Myhrer has made it to a World Cup slalom podium since a runner-up finish in Adelboden in 2014. The 2012 overall World Cup slalom champion has admitted to struggling as of late, but was more than pleased with his return to the World Cup slalom podium.

“It was a tough day. First run was good visibility and second run we had really bad visibility and water on the goggles and didn’t see much,” said Myhrer. “I’ve been struggling for awhile in slalom and I feel happy to be back on the podium. It was a tough day, but I managed to stay in the track and create some speed anyway and it was almost the top.”

“It feels like the older you get, you try to enjoy more things in life I guess,” he added. “You don’t take anything for granted. I’ve been having a tough season, but I was looking forward to coming here in Japan because it’s a really nice experience.”

Schwarz used a strong second run performance to jump from 12th place after the first run into the second podium appearance of his career after finishing third in Madonna di Campiglio, Italy, in December.

“In the first run, I was in 12th position and I thought that I must go and push more,” Schwarz said. “Now I am third place and it’s great. When I came here, I thought it would be great for slalom and giant slalom. In the slalom, I like the flat parts, so that’s my favorite.”

With Hirscher out early, the Austrians still managed to land three racers in the top six with Marc Digruber in fifth and Michael Matt winning the second run and leaping from 22nd into sixth place overall.

It was another tough day for the American team as DNFs and mistakes prevented a single racer from qualifying for a second run. The next World Cup slalom opportunity for the men will be in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on March 6.

The general consensus from the racers was one of enjoyment of their time in Japan, with the enthusiasm and friendliness of the Japanese fans a highlight of the trip. Getting to experience a culture so different from what is found in Europe and North America is a rarity on the World Cup and is something more than a few racers said they hope to see more of in future seasons.

“I had a very, very good time here. You guys are so friendly and so nice to us,” Neureuther concluded. “For us Europeans, it’s a different world, and I like this world a lot. Everybody says ‘thank you’ and you’re so happy when we give an autograph or a photo. It was just an amazing experience. I think it’s a perfect destination to make World Cup races.”

The men’s tour now returns to Europe for the remainder of the season and heads to Chamonix, France, for downhill and alpine combined races Feb. 17-20.

Stay current on the World Cup circuit by downloading the U.S. Ski Team iOS app powered by Ski Racing here.

The Scoop
By Hank McKee

1. Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
2. Myhrer, Head/Head/Head
3. Schwarz, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4. Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
5. Digruber, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6. Matt, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7. Foss-Solvaag, Volkl/Dalbello/Marker
7. Kristoffersen, Rossignol /Rossignol/Rossignol
9. Yule, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
10. Lizeroux, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

• Men’s World Cup slalom, Yuzawa Naeba, Japan, Feb. 13, 2016. … It is the 29^th race of the men’s 44 race schedule. … The eighth of 10 slaloms on the schedule, 11 originally calendared. … It is the fifth World Cup slalom hosted by Naeba, the first since 1975. … The site also hosted the 1972 Sapporo Olympics. … It is exceptionally warm (12C or 53.6F) and had been raining just before the start.
• It is the 12^th career World Cup win for Felix Neureuther, his 10th in slalom. … It is his first win of the season and his first podium since December. … The winning margin is 0.05 of a second. … Top nine are within the same second. … Top 19 within two seconds.
• It is the 20^th career World Cup podium for Andre Myhrer … his 17^th in slalom.
• It is the second career World Cup podium for Marco Schwarz … the first was also in slalom at Madonna di Campiglio Dec. 22.
• Marcel Hirscher (DNF 1^st run) leads the World Cup overall standings 1045-957 over Henrik Kristoffersen (seventh in race). … Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race – injured) is third overall with 916pts.
• Kristoffersen leads the slalom standings 716-500 over Hirscher. … Neureuther is third in the slalom standings with 323pts.
• Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 3915-3407 over Norway. … France is third with 3293pts. … The U.S. is sixth with 1587pts and Canada ninth wth 452pts.

Official Results