Newcomer Marcel Hirscher completed an Austrian clean sweep in Val d’Isere by securing his maiden World Cup win in the giant slalom on Sunday.
The 20-year-old Hirscher’s victory meant Austrians claimed all three weekend events after wins by Benjamin Raich in Friday’s super combined and Michael Walchhofer in Saturday’s super-G.
Hirscher clocked a combined time of 2 minutes, 16.28 seconds down the steep, icy Bellevarde course to win by 0.77 seconds from Italy’s Massimiliano Blardone, with the 31-year-old Raich in third, 1.32 seconds off the pace.
PHOTO: EPA
Raich took the overall World Cup lead from Swiss Carlo Janka, who posted three wins in as many days last week at Beaver Creek, but crashed out in the first leg of the giant slalom, the third event he had failed to finish in Val d’Isere.
Hirscher, who had suggested his first victory was close by making his fourth podium with second place in Friday’s super combined, skied aggressively and made few mistakes down arguably the trickiest mountain on the World Cup circuit.
After clocking the best time in the first leg, he set the second fastest in the second, holding his nerve after Blardone had set the bar high with a fine run.
PHOTO: EPA
“I heard all the roars after Blardone came down and told myself that going for it and taking risks was the only option, so that’s what I did,” Hirscher said. “My first victory is great, especially on such a demanding hill as this one. It’s also great for Austria. What happened in Beaver Creek was not easy for us.”
Austria, the traditionally dominant nation in the sport, had suffered since the start of the season, having to watch Alpine rivals Switzerland enjoy great success.
They bounced back in style here and Raich’s two podium places in three days reminded Janka he still had work to do if he wanted to rule the slopes.
Switzerland, by contrast, had a poor weekend, with Janka collapsing under pressure and Didier Cuche sustaining neck and back injuries in a training crash that led to him pulling out of Sunday’s giant slalom.
Hirscher, who grew up admiring Raich, heard lots of praise from his hero after his impressive performance.
“We’ve known for years that Marcel is a great talent, but now he is a winner,” Raich, the most prolific active skier with 35 World Cup wins, said of his highly promising teammate. “I was impressed by his attitude in the second leg. Many young skiers in that position would have cracked, but he didn’t. I don’t know where his limits are, but he’s got a great future, that’s for sure.”
■WOMEN’S WORLD CUP
REUTERS, ARE, SWEDEN
Sandrine Aubert emulated teammate Tessa Worley when she won a women’s Alpine skiing slalom in Are for a rare French double on Sunday.
Spurred on by the giant slalom victory of Worley on the same Olimpia piste the previous day, Aubert won her third World Cup victory, all in slaloms, in a combined time of 1 minute, 43.24 seconds.
A blistering second run as fog was creeping up the piste allowed the 27-year-old skier from Les Deux Alpes to leave German sisters Maria and Susanne Riesch to battle it out for the other two podium spots.
“To win back-to-back races is extremely important. This weekend is going to be crucial for the rest of our season,” Aubert said.
The last time two French women won two races in succession was 10 years ago in Copper Mountain, when Christel Saioni won a slalom and Regine Cavagnoud a giant slalom.
“We want to dedicate these wins to the boys who have been struggling lately,” added Aubert, in a reference to slalom specialist Jean-Baptiste Grange, who will miss the Vancouver Olympics in February because of a knee injury.
The exuberant Frenchwoman, who won her first career slalom in Ofterschwang, Austria, last season, won the Are finals race a week later, but she had struggled since the start of this season.
“I love this piste and obviously it loves me too. It really started for me here last year, and it helped me keep relaxed and confident today,” she said.
World champion Maria Riesch was second, 0.45 seconds behind, and took the overall World Cup lead from arch rival Lindsey Vonn.
Younger sister Susanne, fourth in the previous two slaloms of the season, made it on to her first podium, 0.96 seconds behind Aubert.
“She deserves it much more than I did my first podium because she has been so close, so often. I don’t see her as a rival,” Maria Riesch said.
Vonn, winner of two downhills last weekend in Lake Louise, had to be content with eighth place, 2.13 seconds off the pace.
The American now trails Riesch by 20 points in the overall World Cup standings.
Austria’s Kathrin Zettel, who took fourth place in Sunday’s slalom after finishing third on Saturday, lies third on 330 points.
Vonn should find a terrain more to her liking next weekend in Val d’Isere, France, with a super combined, downhill and super-G on the menu.
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