Slovenia’s Tina Maze cruised to a crushing victory in the women’s World Cup super-combined in St Mortiz, Switzerland, yesterday as Lindsey Vonn of the US bombed out of the second slalom leg.
Maze posted the lead time in the morning’s super-G, clocking 1 minute, 19.06 seconds in cold, overcast conditions on perfect snow.
The 29-year-old then held her nerve to also record the quickest slalom in 42.70 seconds, handing her a combined total of 2:01.76.
It was the third victory of the season for the reigning world giant slalom champion, who has already won two giant slalom races in the Soelden, Austria, opener and then in Aspen, Colorado.
She now heads the overall standings on 497 points from German Maria Hoefl-Riesch (369).
“I’m really strong right now because I prepared well this summer,” Maze said. “At the moment, I can’t really get much better. I just have to leave the skiing to do the talking.”
Austrian Nicole Hosp finished second 0.88 seconds back, with teammate Kathrin Zettel completing the podium, a further 0.20 seconds adrift.
“I’m struggling to remember my last second place,” said Hosp, who notched up two third-place super-combined finishes last season. “Skiing plays with your head a lot. When there are a few hiccups it’s not so easy on the skis, but when you have positive memories it’s simpler to recall those and use them to your advantage.”
Zettel added: “I wasn’t expecting this result today, because I was imagining the super names, like Lindsey and Maria, up front. I was happy about my super-G run and managed to keep the gap also during the slalom race, which earned me a podium result today.”
Vonn was sitting in fourth 0.27 seconds back after the super-G, but failed to hold her line in the slalom and did not finish. She now stands fourth in the overall standings on 310 points, behind Maze, Hoefl-Riesch and Zettel (320).
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