Skiing
Henrik Kristoffersen tops the standings after a masterful win in Alta Badia
Norwegian skier Henrik Kristoffersen showed why he's world champion by overcoming tricky conditions to win the giant slalom event in Alta Badia, Italy, and seize the overall championship lead.
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Henrik Kristoffersen scored his first giant slalom win of the season after overcoming tricky conditions in a fog- and snow-laden Alta Badia. The Norwegian skier came out of his two runs in Italy with a combined time of 1:57.33 to beat Cyprien Sarrazin of France by 0.31 seconds and Slovenia's Zan Kranjec by 0.39 seconds.
I gave it everything I had in the second run
The win saw Kristoffersen break a run of relative misfortune on the slopes at Alta Badia after he finished runner-up on three occasions there (twice behind now-retired Austrian Marcel Hirscher). It also marks his second FIS win of the season after he clinched a slalom victory at Levi, in Finland, in November.
“It’s great for sure but this was a tough day, a really rough day,” said Kristoffersen after securing the win which took him to the top of the overall World Cup standings with 343 points – 31 ahead of Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr.
“After coming close here one year behind Marcel, it’s good to finally win at this historic place. In the end I skied really good, and I gave it everything I had in the second run."
The Norwegian beat Sarrazin and Kranjec to score a second win of the season
© Erich Spiess/ASP/Red Bull Content Pool
Kristoffersen also leads the giant slalom crystal globe chase on 193 points ahead of Kranjec on 170 and American Tommy Ford on 161. Most of the other favourites faltered in the afternoon’s second run – Norway’s Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen was fastest in the first leg and finished 11th, Swiss Marco Odermatt, who was second in the morning run, had to be content with fifth, while Alexis Pinturault finished eighth.
It was an impressive team effort from Norway with five skiers in the top 11. While it was only his second World Cup podium, Sarrazin’s runner-up spot was hardly a surprise as he snatched his first World Cup win in a parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia in 2016.
The race was held in poor conditions after snow and fog forced the cancellation of Saturday’s downhill in Val Gardena, Italy, and both women’s races in Val d’Isere, France. The next scheduled of the FIS Ski World Cup takes place in Bormio, Italy, on December 27 to 29.
Top 10 results
- Henrik Kristoffersen (Norway) 1:57.33
- Cyprien Sarrazin (France) 0.31 seconds behind
- Žan Kranjec (Slovenia) 0.39
- Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (Norway) 0.46
- Marco Odermatt (Switzerland) 0.83
- Marco Schwarz (Austria) 0.88
- Rasmus Windingstad (Norway) 0.91
- Lucas Braathen (Norway) 0.92
- Alexis Pinturault (France) 0.92
- Filip Zubcic (Croatia) 1.00
Top 10 FIS World Cup standings
- Henrik Kristoffersen (Norway) 343 points
- Vincent Kriechmayr (Austria) 312
- Alexis Pinturault (France) 296
- Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (Norway) 274
- Matthias Mayer (Austria) 257
- Dominik Paris (Italy) 249
- Marco Odermatt (Switzerland) 222
- Beat Feuz (Switzerland) 221
- Mauro Caviezel (Switzerland) 213
- Thomas Dressen (Germany) 202
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