Sara Hector & Lara Gut-Behrami podium in the Giant Slalom
Two HEAD Worldcup Rebels on the podium in the Giant Slalom in Aare on Saturday with Sara Hector in second place and Lara Gut-Behrami finishing third. The third place finish sees the Swiss athlete enter the final race in Saalbach with a 95-point lead in the Giant Slalom World Cup.
"It was a great podium in the Giant Slalom. And Lara Gut-Behrami's third place still puts her in a strong position," emphasizes HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "In the Slalom it was a shame that we just missed the podium after such an excellent performance, especially by Emma Aicher and Dzenifera Germane. I'm looking forward to a fair race in the final. It is good for the athletes that the final is spread over two weeks. Lara Gut-Behrami is on top form. In the Giant Slalom, her lead of 95 points should work out, and we'll see about the rest. But as Lara Gut-Behrami herself says: You've only won the Crystal Globe when you're actually holding it in your hands."
"Proud to come second in Sweden"
Sara Hector delivered a brilliant first run at her home event, which is why she was not completely satisfied with her second place overall. For the Swedish athlete it was her fourth podium finish in the Giant Slalom this season. "I'm a bit disappointed because I was well in front on the first run, but of course I'm also proud to come second here in Sweden," said Sara Hector at the finish.
282 points in front in the overall World Cup
Third place went to Lara Gut-Behrami having clocked the second-fastest first run. The 32-year-old now has a 95-point lead over Federica Brignone going into the final Giant Slalom in Saalbach. Four races before the end of the season, the Swiss athlete is 282 points ahead of Federica Brignone and 345 points ahead of Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall World Cup. "I'm not totally satisfied with my skiing today, but I'm not complaining about being on the podium either. It's just that if the snow is too soft, I can't ski the way I want to. I prefer harder snow," is how Lara Gut-Behrami analysed her race. Also in the top 15 were Franziska Gritsch from Austria in ninth place, A J Hurt from the USA eleventh, and Ragnhild Mowinckel from Norway in 13th place.
HEAD Worldcup Rebels just miss the podium in the Slalom
In the Slalom on Sunday, the HEAD athletes just missed out on podium finishes. Lena Dürr from Germany was only one-hundredth of a second away from landing on the podium. Another one hundredth behind her, Anna Swenn-Larsson from Sweden finished in fifth place after stopping the clock with the second fastest time on the second run. After starting with bib number 39, Emma Aicher from Germany finished in seventh place - her best Slalom result so far. Dzenifera Germane from Latvia finished the Slalom in eighth place, Camille Rast from Switzerland was twelfth, and Sara Hector 14th.
