Alpine Skiing
Alice Robinson closes out her racing season with another GS win
As the FIS World Cup season concluded in Switzerland, Alice Robinson won in giant slalom, while Clément Noël and Alexis Pinturault grabbed slalom podiums.
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New Zealand’s ski racer Alice Robinson finished the 2020-21 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season with a brilliant giant slalom victory over Mikaela Shiffrin in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, as France's Clément Noël and Alexis Pinturault finished the men's season with slalom podium places.
Robinson earned a second place in the Jasná giant slalom in Slovakia and finished fourth in Sunday's first run in Switzerland, as Shiffrin held a 0.77s lead over her.
The 19-year-old produced a superb second run, however, to put pressure on Shiffrin, who couldn't respond and finished 0.28s behind Robinson, with Slovenian Meta Hrovat third to end the season.
Alice Robinson signed off the season in style in Switzerland
© Erich Spiess/ASP/Red Bull Content Pool
Alexis Pinturault celebrated his 30th birthday on Saturday by winning the final giant slalom of the season to clinch his first-ever GS title and a first overall World Cup title, too, after 2019 and 2020 runner-up finishes.
On Sunday, Pinturault looked jaded on the first slalom run to finish 1.09s behind confirmed slalom champion Marco Schwarz, with Clément Noël 0.18s behind to finish second, Loïc Meillard seventh and Henrik Kristoffersen 13th.
Pinturault hit back second time around with the second-best run to put himself in with a chance of a podium, as Austrian Manuel Feller grabbed the lead and compatriot Noël got in between the two of them.
Schwarz made a mistake as last man down to finish sixth and ensure Noël and Pinturault finished with a podium, while Switzerland's Meillard moved up to fifth and Norwegian Kristoffersen finished 12th.
Noël finished the season second in the slalom rankings behind Schwarz, while Pinturault's third place meant that he finished the final overall standings 167 points ahead of nearest challenger Marco Odermatt.
Pinturault revealed: "I was really tired this morning. Today is just a bonus. At least I had a strong second run and the energy was coming back. It feels great to finish the season with one victory, the globes and third place in the slalom. Winning two times in a row at Adelboden was really special this season and yesterday was a tricky moment with all the pressure around and a key moment where I found a solution."
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