French One-Two In Solden
Alexis Pinturault lived up to the pre-season hype, leading a French one-two punch in today’s giant slalom in the Audi FIS World cup men’s season opener in Soelden (AUT).
Pinturault beat his teammate Mathieu Faivre by 0.54 seconds to claim his 24th career World Cup victory. It was also Pinturault’s 12th career giant slalom win. For Faivre, it was his best finish since last December and his seventh career podium.
All eyes were on Pinturault entering today’s race. After finishing in second place in last year’s Overall race, he was dubbed one of the favorites to fill the footsteps of now-retired Marcel Hirscher.
The Frenchman wasted no time in the season-opener setting the tone as he held the lead after the first run, albeit by a slim 0.02 seconds margin ahead of Faivre.
“It was really fantastic,” Pinturault said after the race. "I had two solid runs. It was really hard on the second run we couldn’t see anything on the piste.”
The second run proved to be tough for a handful of athletes, including young Swiss rising star Marco Odermatt, who sat in third place after the first run, but slipped to 13th after a costly mistake. Taking advantage of Odermatt’s misfortune was Slovenian Zan Kranjec, who landed on the podium 0.63 seconds off the winning pace.
When asked post-race who will be his challenger this year now that Austrian great Marcel Hirscher has retired, Frenchman Alexis said, “Everything is changing from one race to the next. The Americans, for example, have great talent…”
After two straight years of cancellations on the Rettenbach Glacier, Mother Nature finally cooperated this year, offering up optimal conditions with sunny skies and a rock hard piste. Ultimately, too much sun was the cause of the tougher conditions on the second run as it created massive shadows on parts of the course.
The tour now has a lengthy break before action resumes on Levi (FIN) at the end of November.
Tommy Ford led the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team with a career-best fourth-place finish Sunday on the Rettenbach Glacier in Sölden, Austria, just 0.07-seconds off the podium. Teammate Ted Ligety was fifth, followed by Ryan Cochran-Siegle in 11th - making the U.S. Ski Team’s collective performance the most dominant among all nations competing.
“I’m feeling strong,” Tommy said after the race. “That first run was solid skiing, a little safe. And that second run I definitely trusted it a little more and let it go...and I’m psyched with this personal best, and first points at Sölden as well.”
The U.S. men are knocking on the podium’s door, and it feels great to be in the mix once again. Ford was 10th in the first run and with the shadows creeping across the course in the second run and Ligety sitting in the hot seat as the current leader, he simply just let the skis run and trusted his instincts through the steepest part of the course. Sunday's result was Ted's first top-five result since his last podium - which was a third place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen during the 2017-18 season. After the first run, Ted waved to the camera and said "hi" to his two-year-old son Jax.
"It was nice to be in the mix a little bit again...it felt good," said Ted, laughing. "There's a good place to step off of this from, and I'm happy to be in the fight, at least. First run I didn't let it go quite as much, and second run I was able to push a little bit harder, especially in the steep part - so it's a good step forward. We race in Beaver Creek next, and that's a hill that's always treated me really well...I love that hill. Similar to here, where I've always had a lot of success, so hopefully I can continue that trend and get back to what I used to be able to do."
“There was a little glare from the valley, so (the light) was manageable,” Tommy recalled. “There was a tough rhythm change in the middle, but there was enough speed control where you could get it clean in the bottom half of the pitch.”
With the first race of the season in the books, Tommy and the rest of the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team are heading back home for a two-week camp at the U.S. Ski Team Speed Center at Copper Mountain, Colo., where they will be greeted by mid-winter conditions as they prepare for the next World Cup, the Beaver Creek Birds of Prey, featuring giant slalom, downhill and super-G races Dec. 6-8.
“We have a little break now, so I’m going to go home and relax a little bit,” Tommy said. “Then get back into the gym and keep at it...and when the time comes, I’ll be psyched for Beaver Creek.”
