Lara Gut-Behrami races Giant Slalom to perfection

Second race, second victory - Lara Gut-Behrami is on absolute top form in the Giant Slalom. Following her victory at the season opening in Sölden, the Swiss athlete has gone on to win the second Giant Slalom of the season in Killington on Saturday. There was another podium for the HEAD Worldcup Rebels on Sunday: Wendy Holdener celebrated her first top-3 of the season finishing in third place in the Slalom.

"Lara Gut-Behrami's performance was simply brilliant. She has a very good strategy for coping with workload and training, and does it excellently," says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "When you have bagged a win and can then celebrate the next one straight away, you know you’re doing it right. This is a good platform for her to bring this momentum from the Giant Slalom into the speed disciplines. For Wendy Holdener, the opening event was difficult, so it's even more satisfying that she raced to the podium this weekend. The HEAD Worldcup Rebels taking third, fourth and fifth place made it a great race as a team. And Marta Rossetti achieved her best result to date and skied really well."

"Everything works great in the Giant Slalom at the moment"

Killington is a favourable location for Lara Gut-Behrami. Like last year, the 32-year-old won the Giant Slalom here again in the state of Vermont. On the first run the Swiss athlete was still in third place. With the third-fastest time on the second run she didn't give the competition a chance. "At the moment, everything works great in the Giant Slalom" I feel confident with these skis. It also took some time, it's not something I managed overnight," said Lara Gut Behrami, who will be heading to the next two events in this discipline next weekend in Mont Tremblant with the red jersey and the maximum score of 200 points.

Sara Hector narrowly misses the podium

Sara Hector finished in fourth place to just miss the podium. The Swedish athlete was in second place on the first run. Franziska Gritsch from Austria clocked the sixth-fastest second run to move up from 30th place to 15th. Points were also scored by Ragnhild Mowinckel from Norway in 17th place, A J Hurt from the USA 19th, Wendy Holdener from Switzerland 23rd, and Sweden's Estelle Alphand finishing in 29th place.

Marta Rossetti clocks third-fastest second run

On Sunday, Wendy Holdener had reason to celebrate after finishing third in the Slalom in Killington. Lara Gut-Behrami's compatriot, who was fourth at the halfway stage, stepped up to the podium for the first time this season. Last year, it was in Killington that the 30-year-old achieved her first World Cup victory in the Slalom. The HEAD Worldcup Rebels put in a particularly strong team effort in the Slalom: following Wendy Holdener, Lena Dürr from Germany finished fourth and Marta Rossetti fifth. For the Italian athlete, who started the race with bib number 32, it was the best result of her career. Her previous best place was eleventh in the Slalom in Semmering in 2020. In today’s event, the 24-year-old clocked the third-fastest time on the second run. Also bagging points in the top 30 were Sara Hector in ninth place, Camille Rast from Switzerland twelfth, Franziska Gritsch 22^nd, and Anna Swenn-Larsson from Sweden in 24th place.