Kristoffersen takes the win with a 1.83 margin
Aug 31, 2018·Alpine Skiing
The slalom season is in full swing in January, with the 5th race of the season being held on the traditional Chuenisbärgli in Adelboden. After cleaning the hill from approximately 10 cm of fresh snow in the morning, the course crew was rewarded with a brief moment of sunshine, which quickly disappeared behind a dense fog right after the beginning of the race.
In the lead after the first run, with a portion of luck with the weather and impressive slalom skills, Henrik Kristoffersen was even able to raise the level in second run. The Norwegian wins with a +1.83 advantage over his main contenders, which is the biggest gap in slalom since 2002, and claims his 12th podium, including 9 wins, in the 14 last races he participated in.
"This was really good. This was really cool. I had a bit of luck with the light in the first run, but I don't think I had luck with the skiing. In the second run, even though it was tough, I still did really good. Today was an awesome day for sure. I don't think you can expect the same as last year, last year was pretty outstanding but I hope I can ski good, keep skiing the way I did today; as long as I can do that, I'm happy."
Manfred Moelgg, who won the slalom in Zagreb three days ago, laid down another strong performance and takes 3rd place, his 20th World Cup podium in career. The Italian broke the record of second oldest slalom winner in Zagreb and proved that experience can also be a huge advantage in the ski racing world.
"Tough race. The conditions were not so easy. Adelboden is always the same, it's difficult. Fantastic people here and I'm very happy about second place and compliments to Henrik, one second eighty, it's a lot but it was not so easy. He skied very fast in the second run."
Third place goes to Marcel Hirscher, who is now sharing the lead of the slalom standings with Kristoffersen. The Austrian had bad luck with the weather in the first run but charged the course in second run to lay down the third fastest time of second run and grab 3rd place on the podium.
"I think a third place is for today absolutely the maximum. 140 points for this weekend is not too bad, let's keep on going. Second run was nearly the same for everyone; first run was a big difference between the numbers but we are outside and this is what you have to deal with. This is skiing, not ice hockey."
After a great racing week-end in Adelboden, with over 40’000 spectators in total, the men’s World Cup Tour will move to Wengen, also located in the Swiss Alps approximately two hours away, for an Alpine Combined on Friday, a Downhill on Saturday and another Slalom on Sunday.
