Gut-Behrami Wins Sunday Super-G, 40th World Cup Win, Feller Wins Third Slalom Race In Four Attempt

All of a sudden, the victories keep piling up for Manuel Feller (AUT) — and he has Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) to thank for them.

Feller won his third slalom race in four attempts this season in Wengen on Sunday, just topping McGrath for the second week in a row in what is fast becoming one of the most exciting rivalries on the World Cup tour.

After besting the young Norwegian by two-hundredths of a second last week in Adelboden, Feller came from behind to defeat McGrath by ten-hundredths on Sunday, with Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR, +0.21s) in third place.

"It's his (McGrath's) fault that I am winning because I see how hard he is going in, especially the steep parts, so I thought after the first run I need to go a little bit more all-in if I want to catch these guys," Feller said.

"Especially in Adelboden and also today, I probably need to thank him for pushing me, because if he wouldn't have pushed that hard in the first run, I would think I can go a little bit easier.

"I think it's a good battle for the crowd."

Despite just missing out on victory again, McGrath, 23, has nothing but admiration for a rival that he has long looked up to.

"It's a good fight and he's a good friend of mine, and I'm in his Norwegian fan club as well," McGrath said. "Maybe he can give me some hundredths on my side next time."

Feller might not be so keen to concede even the tiniest of advantages, however, as he surges towards his first crystal globe with a lead of 153 points over McGrath.

At age 31, the Austrian has discovered a level of consistency that he has never previously displayed on tour. Just last season, his results in 10 slalom races were all over the place: two podiums, two DNFs and three results outside the top 10.

But this season, he has already won more World Cup races (three) than in all previous seasons combined (two), and has been in the top five in all four slalom contests.

"It just feels amazing," Feller said. "I'm in the shape of my life, the material (equipment) is the best I've ever had.

"In skiing you say, 'If it runs, it runs,' and what's going on right now, the skis are working really good and the skiing is probably the best I've ever shown."

In third place after the first run, Feller put down an aggressive second-run charge to take over top spot from long-time leader Clement Noel (FRA, fourth) and throw down the gauntlet to the two Norwegians still left to ski.

Kristoffersen failed to dislodge him but bested Noel to move into second, leaving McGrath alone at the top of the mountain with a 0.52-second advantage over Feller coming out of the start gate.

"I don't think I've ever been that terrified in my life, but I did a good job," McGrath said of his second run, which was relatively clean but lacked the aggressiveness of Feller's challenge.

"I just lost my momentum on the end and sometimes that's the routine, instead of going super hard and making mistakes, I skied smart and almost won."

McGrath's runner-up performance pushed Kristoffersen into third for his first podium of the season, as the veteran's equipment setup seems to finally be in order after a difficult opening to the campaign.

"Two-tenths is not a lot, but this brings confidence for sure," the three-time World Cup slalom champion said.

"I can't really be free and ski how I want to because the confidence is not 100 per cent there. But it's becoming better and better."

Relief for Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) as he reached his first podium of the season (Agence Zoom)
And although the Feller-McGrath rivalry is currently the talk of the slalom world, Kristoffersen signalled that he is not out of the chase for a potential fourth slalom globe, despite currently sitting in seventh spot in the standings.

"It's eight more slalom races to go, I could be dangerous," the 29-year-old Norwegian said, looking ahead in particular to the next two famous slalom races.

"Schladming is also a big goal, Kitzbuehel is also a big goal. Every race there is a possibility to fight for a new podium and win."

For the wome, it took almost half the season, but Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) finally found her speed mojo — and recorded a double-milestone victory in the process.

The Swiss star won her 40th World Cup race and 20th in super-G on a shortened course on Sunday in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, capping off a double podium weekend and confirming her status as one of the greatest ski racers of all-time.

Skiing from the reserve start due to high winds at the top of the course, Gut-Behrami finished in 1:14.95, well ahead of Austrian pair Cornelia Huetter (AUT, +0.25s) and Mirjam Puchner (AUT, +0.26s).

"I was attacking and this is what I was looking for," Gut-Behrami said. "It was what I wanted from the top to the finish so it's a nice feeling to ski like that."

The 32-year-old is the seventh woman to reach 40 World Cup wins, with sixth-placed Anja Paerson (SWE) in her sights on 42, and her 20 super-G wins trail only Lindsey Vonn's (USA) record of 28.

Despite her super-G pedigree, however, Gut-Behrami had struggled to reach her top form in the discipline this season prior to Sunday.

She won the opening two giant slalom races of the campaign and often mentioned being unable to find her groove in subsequent speed races, carving GS turns even on longer skis.

But her third place in Friday's first super-G was a step in the right direction and the stars aligned for her on Sunday with the shortened course and technical turns suiting her considerable super-G skillset.

"I have a lot of confidence on GS skis and I've been racing well, and now I was trying to translate that onto the speed skis and I think these days here on such a nice slope have helped me a lot," she said.

"The last races something was still missing and today I felt nice on the skis and this made me fast."

Skiing as the second-last of the top seeds with bib No.14, Gut-Behrami skied a different line from everyone else even before the first gate, and immediately dislodged the skier before her, Huetter, from the leader's chair.

After her impressive win on home snow on Friday, Huetter struggled with emotion and a lack of sleep in Saturday's downhill, finishing 16th, but recovered on Sunday to reach her third super-G podium in four races this season.

"Yesterday it was a hard race because I had not the best feeling in my mind," she admitted. "Today I tried to ski like on Friday. And it was really good, it was attacking, a few mistakes but that's racing."

Huetter retained her lead in the super-G standings and joined Puchner for the second consecutive double Austrian podium after Puchner and Stephanie Venier (AUT) were in the top three in Saturday's downhill.

Skiing with bib No.20 after the top seeds had finished, Puchner led Gut-Behrami's time by over half a second halfway down the course. Although she fell away on the lower section, the local favourite was delighted to finish third.

"I'm really happy about this weekend," said Puchner, who grew up about 30 minutes' drive from Altenmarkt-Zauchensee. "I have always had trouble with this slope so it's very nice to have two podiums here."

With the Austrian triple speed weekend now in the books, the focus of the women's tour returns to technical skiing in the coming days, with a night slalom in Flachau on Tuesday before giant slalom and slalom races in Jasna next weekend.