Patrick Lang’s Column

18th January 2020 A HISTORICAL DAY AT !

It’s quite an historical day that thousands of spectators amassed at the finish area and along the course enjoyed on Saturday at Sestriere as ’s leading specialist celebrated her thirteen victory on the World-Cup tour at the end of a thrilling race. The racer from Val d’Aosta, who shared her brilliant win with Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova, the reigning World Champion in the specialty, while USA’s Olympic Champion came in 3rd at a mere1/100 of a second, became the first champion to win a World Cup stage on the same slope than her mother, , winner here in a slalom back in 1983!

Brignone, fresh from her recent triumph in a combined event last weekend at Zauchensee, in , clocked the fastest time in the first leg ahead of Vlhova and fought hard enough in the afternoon to successfully defend her lead with the fifth best time of the run. She is now the only skier having been able to win a second giant slalom race this season as she already dominated the rest of the field last month at Courchevel. Her impressive performance allowed her to remain in the lead in the giant slalom World Cup standings with an advance of 61 points on the defending champion Mikaela Shiffrin while her teammate , the winner at Killington, Vt, in November is 3rd with a delay of 111 points. Marta certainly felt the pressure racing in front of her home crowd today and had to be content with her 10th place.

“This was certainly one of my most difficult races in recent years, I was very nervous before the first run as I felt that everyone was expecting a strong result from me today after my excellent results in past weeks,” Brignone explained after the award ceremony. “It was also very emotional for me because I wore the red leader bib this morning and this is a huge responsibility. It didn’t bring me much luck last time it has been the case last winter at San Vigilio so I was tense.”

“The support of the crowd today was amazing. I could hear the fans from the very top of the slope and their applauses after my runs were fantastic. It’ll remain for a long time a special day for me. I also wish to thank all the course workers who did a wonderful job last night perfectly preparing the course after that heavy snowfall. This slope is very challenging and you need to fight very hard from top to bottom to have a chance to finish among the best.”

Excelling in several specialties, Federica has now a fair chance to keep her spot on the overall World Cup podium behind Shiffrin and Vlhova who are the top favorites for the final victory in that event.

Petra Vlhova was delighted to finally excel again in giant slalom after facing a tough season start in that specialty following some health problems she had faced last summer. This winter she didn’t manage to reach the podium in giant slalom, finishing 14th at Soelden, 6th at Killington, 4 that Courchevel and 5th at Lienz. “It means a lot to me, our team has worked very hard for this result,” the skier from Jasna explained afterwards. “I already raced here in December 2016 when the tour came here, but I only finished 22nd that year. Now it’s another story of course. It’s quite an exciting feeling to have won the last three technical races I entered. It looks like I am reaching my best form now.”

Mikaela Shiffrin showed with her best time in the second run that she is again moving at a high level in giant slalom after her recent defeats in slalom at Zagreb and Flachau. Only three weeks ago she was out of reach for her rivals at Lienz, in Austria, dominating both races there. “This year the hundredths of second are not so often on my side as it has been sometimes the case in recent winters, but I am pleased with my level of performances today,” the 24-year-old champion from Colorado said. “Of course one hundredth of a second I nothing and it’s a strange feeling to be 3rd now so close to the winners. Both skied amazingly well again but it’ll help me to remain motivated. I know I have to train hard to be able to move at the same level. Giant slalom is a very challenging specialty which requires a lot to be competitive but that’s part of the game,” also said the three time overall World Champion who plans to compete next week at , in Bulgaria, where three speed races are scheduled.

Tomorrow another exciting competition is expected on the Giovanni Agnelli course where the first women parallel giant slalom is taking place. The same leaders that today should be fighting for victory in it.