Kristoffersen wins Wengen second straight season

After ripping the first run, Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen was able to hold on to his lead and won his 13th career slalom win. The slalom prince already took the win last year in Wengen, but due to lack of snow, the course was set on the downhill track, which has a complete different profile.

Heavy snowfall prevented the organisers from holding the traditional Lauberhorn Downhill on Saturday, but today the weather was kinder and allowed a fantastic show on the original Wengen slalom hill.

Kristoffersen's win is another triumph in a still-young 2017, which saw him dominate the field last week in the Adelboden slalom winning by nearly two seconds. Today, the margin was much closer, the still the Norwegian is skiing in his own zone since the turn of the new year. Yet, he still saw room for improvement:

"My run was not perfect today," said Kristoffersen, "I wasn't perfect on the steep section, but still I am happy to have waled away with the win today."

Marcel Hirscher, who was in fourth place after the first run, +0.56 behind, had to push hard in the second run and managed to grab second place, +0.15 off Kristoffersen’s pace.

Germany’s Felix Neureuther finished third and his constant performances allowed him to close the gap that separated him in the season slalom standings, as he is now just over 100 behind Manfred Moelgg, who finished eighth today.

Before this race in Wengen, Kristoffersen and Hirscher were tied in the season slalom standings. Mid season, the Norwegian is 20 points ahead of the Austrian. With Kitzbuehel, Schladming, Stockholm and Aspen coming up, the battle for the small globe promises to be exciting.

The slalom marks the end of the race week-end in Wengen, Switzerland. The men’s World Cup Tour now moves to Kitzbuehel, where a super-g, a downhill and a slalom will be held on the famous Streif and Ganslernhang courses.