Brignone Wins Val D'Isere Super G, Odermatt Tops Alta Badia GS
It was a very difficult super-G day for the women’s field with over 20 did not finish results, and racers needed extra grit to find the finish line. The top performer of the day was Italian force Federica Brignone winning by 0.44 seconds above Norway’s Kasja Vickhoff Lie in second and Sofia Goggia of Italy in third.
The late-career renaissance of Federica Brignone (ITA) continued on Sunday as she mastered a difficult super-G course in Val d'Isère to recapture the Italian women's record for World Cup victories.
The 33-year-old won her third race of the season and 24th of her career, breaking a national record tie with teammate Sofia Goggia (ITA), who finished third on Sunday as the two Italians were split by runner-up Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (NOR).
On a challenging course that caught out many of the world's best skiers, Brignone used her experience and giant slalom skills to great effect, finishing an impressive 0.44 seconds ahead of Lie.
"Almost perfect," Brignone said. "Today it was really hard to do the perfect run. The super-G was not easy for sure. There were big turns but also a lot of speed, so you were going fast and arriving at some big turns where you had to be ahead. I tried always to push, always to be ahead, and never be happy with my speed but wanting more. So that was my goal today and I was really aggressive but I let my skis go."
While Brignone benefitted from the course set by one of the Italian coaches, Paolo Stefanini, many others struggled on the 'OK' piste, leading to 26 DNFs (did not finishes) out of 58 starters.
That non-finish rate of 44.8 per cent is the highest for a women's super-G World Cup race since at least as far back as the 1999/2000 season, and fourth-highest in all disciplines during that time behind three slalom races, according to the Alpine Ski DataBase.
The course set caught out two of the biggest pre-race favourites, Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) and Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI), who both seemed to misread the mid-section and missed gates as a result, while several other top skiers also failed to finish.
Brignone had no such problems, however, as she continued her impressive start to the season that sees her in second place in the race for the overall title, only 53 points behind Shiffrin.
"It's a dream right now," said Brignone, who has already tripled her one race win from last season in the early part of this year's campaign. "I'm free, I'm skiing good, I'm having fun and I'm motivated to try to ski faster, and I think that's the best thing for the beginning of the season."
With so many top skiers faltering, that left the door open for speed specialist Lie, who reached her fourth World Cup podium and second in super-G.
A brilliant top section saw Lie lead Brignone at the halfway stage, and even though the Norwegian lost time on the technical turns and couldn't keep the green light all the way to the finish line, she screamed in delight when she saw her result.
"I've been struggling a bit going into the race season," Lie admitted. "I know I can go fast and I've been really confident but I've just struggled to have the race level. I gave it all today and I trusted myself, so I'm super happy."
Despite having a relatively late start number with bib No.16, Lie was unaware of the problems that plagued some skiers ahead of her, and she wisely used Brignone as her model instead.
"Lucky for me I didn't see them (Shiffrin and Gut-Behrami)," Lie said. "I just saw Fede and it looked really easy so I thought, 'OK, I'll just do the same,' and I need to thank her for that."
Lie's impressive run pushed Goggia, who has battled a cold all week and managed only fourth in yesterday's downhill, down from second to third.
The Italian star was slightly wild in parts and was late in the line on the technical turns during the mid-section of the race, but still reached her 51st World Cup podium.
"It was, generally talking, a good performance," Goggia said. "Of course my skiing was not so clean, this super-G is always tricky. In some gates I was a bit dirty. But at the same time with my physical condition, being a little bit sick, I think I had a good performance. I'll take this podium and I'm going home to recover."
While Goggia has earned the rest after four speed races over the last two weekends, the technical specialists on the women's tour have one more challenge before the Christmas break: a night slalom in Courchevel on Thursday.
For the men Marco Odermatt (SUI) fended off a passioned challenge by Filip Zubcic (CRO) to win his fifth consecutive giant slalom race and third in total on the formidable ‘Gran Pisa’ piste in Alta Badia.
The two-time defending giant slalom and Olympic champion once again demonstrated his mastery of the discipline on the dark, bumpy and exhausting GS slope, which is arguably the toughest on tour. The 26-year-old Swiss star earned his 26th World Cup victory, 16th in GS and has now taken top honors in 14 of his last 20 GS races.
On a clear, cold and postcard-like day racing on the revered piste which snakes down the mountainside surrounded by jagged Italian Dolomites peaks, Odermatt sped to victory by 0.19 seconds ahead of Zubcic. Olympic GS champion Zan Kranjec (SLO) climbed one spot from the first run to finish third, a lengthy 2.26 seconds behind the Swiss victor.
“I knew as always, I had to keep risking and really push it and I had a good run,” Odermatt said, basking in the sunlight of the Alta Badia finish area. “The snow was better than expected in the second run – it was not as bumpy as I expected.”
The Swiss two-time overall World Cup champion was fastest in the morning run, and carried a 0.31 second advantage over Zubcic into the 2nd run. Odermatt executed a high, clean line with rhythm and pace in his second trip down, almost making one of the toughest tracks in the world look like your average intermediate run.
His two-run winning time down the rigorous 448-metre piste was 2.29.33. Odermatt referenced his subpar long-distance running skills, when queried about the rigors of the challenge.
“For sure you are tired, but it is not like running marathon for two, or for me four hours,” Odermatt said. “It’s just two or three minutes, but for sure you have to stay focused.”
Zubcic put some pressure on Odermatt with what would be the fastest time of the second run – 1:14.28
“I saw it was very tight at top and then the big distance until the third place, so I knew I had to ski really well,” said Odermatt, who posted the second fastest afternoon run, 0.12 behind the Croatian. “I had a good feeling while skiing – it felt very good.”
Odermatt equals the record of five consecutive GS victories, also accomplished by legends Marcel Hirscher and Ingemar Stenmark. Odermatt will have the opportunity to break the tie with a potential sixth straight victory as the racers will once again battle the Alta Badia GS on Monday.
The ultra-consistent Swiss racer has tamed the Gran Risa twice before, winning in Alta Badia in 2021 and 2022. He is also now two-for-two in GS this season, following his dominant .98 second win in Val d’Isere on December 9.
Zubcic charged hard, skiing super-aggressive almost with reckless abandon in his second run and it worked. Seeking his fourth World Cup win, he crossed the line with a green light and more than a two-second advantage over Kranjec.
The passionate 30-year-old Croatian circled the finish area, pounded his fist on his heart and screamed vociferously, naturally in Croatian. While his time would not hold up to Odermatt, the inspired performance secured his 11th career GS podium.
“Maybe it was one of the best finished that I’ve ever had,” Zubcic said, shortly after runner-up finish. “I didn’t know what to expect in the second run, but I pushed hard like a maniac. When I came into the finish area, I knew how good it was.
“I don’t know what to say, but finally Zubo is back,” Zubcic said, referring to himself with vigor. “I’ve struggled for nine years on this slope now, until today.”
Kranjec may have been an enormous margin of more than two seconds behind Odermatt and Zubcic, but still his effort was solid enough for his ninth Word Cup podium.
The 30-year-old Slovenian trailed Marco Schwarz (AUT) by .52 seconds for the final podium position after the morning run, a time that he was able to pull back with a strong afternoon run and a couple of miscues by the Austrian all-arounder.
“I’m happy with my third place – for sure I’d prefer to not be two-seconds behind, but these two guys skied really, really good today.” Kranjec said. “I don’t know how much faster I could have gone, but for sure if I want to win I’ll need to continue this success. I’ve been better and better this year and for sure, and I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” said the Slovenian veteran..
Former Gran Risa champions Alexis Pinturault (FRA) and Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) skied well, but not spectacularly and finished sixth and seventh, respectively.
Seventy-one racers representing 21 nations competed in the first run. Fourteen of those 71 were DNF’s on the demanding piste.
After six of 45 men’s World Cup races, Odermatt leads the overall standing by 72-points ahead of Schwarz, who was fourth on Sunday and 176 more than Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (NOR), who finished a respectable 13th in a discipline the speed specialist often skips.
Odermatt will aim to soar to a record-breaking sixth consecutive World Cup GS victory as the racers take another crack at Alta Badia’s ‘Gran Risa’ on Monday.
