Meillard Wins Saalbach GS

The Austrian crowds were in full force to watch the best of the best put it to the test in Saalbach. The conditions felt like spring with warm temperatures and light rain on a heavily salted course. 

With a perfect giant slalom season within his grasp, Marco Odermatt (SUI) finally showed that he is human after all. It was a dramatic end to the giant slalom season for Swiss star Marco Odermatt. Odermatt was chasing his 13th giant slalom victory in a row but on the second run he caught an edge and could not complete the run. Teammate Loic Meillard took the win to cap off what has been a streak of podiums in the recent races. Second place went to Andorra racer Joan Verdu, his second podium of the season. Swiss skier Thomas Tumler was third. 

Meillard continued his superb late-season form to hand Odermatt his first giant slalom defeat since February 2023 and finish well ahead of runner-up Joan Verdu (AND, +0.71s), with Thomas Tumler (SUI, +0.79s) in third.

"I know I did a few mistakes but I tried my best and today that was enough," said Meillard, who was second to Odermatt after the first run and put enough pressure on his teammate to force him into an error in the afternoon session.

Meillard soars all the way to the top of the podium

The victory was the culmination of Meillard's stunning rise to the top as the season has gone on after a slow start to the campaign, which included a 16th place and a DNF among the first four giant slalom races.

But the 27-year-old emerged as the biggest challenger to Odermatt's dominance in the back half of the season, with three consecutive podiums delivering him second place in the discipline standings.

"I had some low points, let's put it that way," Meillard said. "We kept believing in the work we were putting in every day in training and it paid off at the end of the season.

"In January if someone would have told me I would have been second in the standings, I would have laughed and said, 'No, there's no chance.'"

Meillard also moved into second place in the overall standings ahead of Manu Feller (AUT), boosted by two wins and two runner-up places in his last four races in all disciplines.

Odermatt's perfect season comes to an end

Bidding to make it 10-from-10 in giant slalom this season and starting the second run with an advantage over Meillard of 0.40 seconds, Odermatt lost his balance on the inside ski in the top section of the second run and while he managed to stay on his skis, he couldn't make the next gate.

"In conditions like this, you get faster on your inside ski boots and that happened, and then you slide away very quick and that was the mistake today," he said.

Riding a 12-race giant slalom winning streak and a 26-race giant slalom podium streak going back almost three years to the day, Odermatt insisted that the pressure of continuing those streaks and approaching some of Ingemar Stenmark's (SWE) single-discipline records did not undo him.

"I think it wasn't the pressure, I felt very relaxed in the second run," he said.

"A little bit disappointed about the result, about this perfect season which isn't perfect now. But that's ski racing, that's sport, and that's part of it."

Odermatt still claimed the giant slalom crystal globe by 432 points and remains on track to win four globes and to break his own men's points record from a season ago if he can score more than 140 points in his final two races.

Dream podiums for Verdu and Tumler after back injuries

Verdu, who recorded Andorra's first World Cup podium last December in Val d'Isere, has had his campaign derailed by injury but returned on Saturday to set a career-best result after moving up three spots from the first run.

"Results like this, they are unique, so it's really special," said the 28-year-old, who had missed the previous three giant slalom races with a back injury.

"I feel the pressure but I also feel all the support. I'm racing for me, for my country, and to be able to achieve a result like this after a really hard month for me, it's something crazy.

"I try to dream big and like this we can achieve big, big dreams."

Finishing in the top three was also a dream for Tumler, who moved up five spots after the first run but only had his podium confirmed when Odermatt skied out.

Tumler reached his third career World Cup podium and his first in a traditional discipline in over five years, since he came third in a giant slalom in Beaver Creek in December 2018.

"It's my third podium but for sure the best one," said Tumler, who also reached the podium in a parallel event in 2020 but who has had a long road back after suffering a serious back injury later that year.

"I lost my the trust in my body," the 34-year-old admitted. "The body was good but the head was the problem, and I needed two more years to get back to this comfort mode with my body.

"But step by step, it was possible to come back to this nice moment."

For the American's, River 

Radamus had trouble finding his rhythm and finished the first run in 15th place. Sarchett, a bit nervous, made it down with a sizable mistake, ready to make up time on the second run.

Sarchett, the World Juniors giant slalom champion, showed off his talent running first on the second run. He skied smooth and fast to land in the leaderboard for two racers. Sarchett ended up having the third-fastest second run, a remarkable feat for the up-and-coming racer. Sarchett was sure to soak in the experience.

“I am a little disappointed with the first run,” said Sarchett. “I didn't ski my best and I felt like I left a lot on the table. But my second run was really fun. It felt like my normal skiing and was fast and that feels good.”

“It’s definitely the next level to be here and there is a reason why it's the World Cup," he added. "You have to be on your game and I think that’s really cool and will hopefully motivate me."

Radamus finished his day in 17th place, not his best finish, but leaves him ready to come back stronger for the next season. Radamus will finish the giant slalom rankings in 11th, his best ranking to date.

“It’s been a great season. I feel like I’ve made some strides to where I want to be with my giant slalom skiing,” said Radamus. “Two bad runs here - I wish I could have finished it on a stronger note but I will take the motivation and frustration I have into the off-season to get better for next year.”