Slovenia's Bostjan Kline grabs first career win in Kvitfjell
Aug 31, 2018·Alpine Skiing
It was an historic day for Slovenia, as Bostjan Kline earned his first-ever World Cup win. The 26 year-old racer from Maribor had performances last year, with two second places, and he definitely was on the “one-to-watch” list.
After the World Championships in St. Moritz, the men’s World Cup Tour moved North to Kvitfjell (NOR) for the two downhills and a super-G. Today was the replacement race from Lake Louise, and the first of two downhills on the Olympiabakken.
"It feels good. The whole season I knew that I can ski good, that I can ski fast. You know, I just had to be patient and today, everything came together with the skiing, the start routine, warmup and everything. It was ups and downs during this season. Hot and cold. There were things that were really good but I had some mistakes in my runs but now it was good."
Olympic Champion Matthias Mayer had good results in super-G, with a win in Kitzbuehel, but some doubts prevented him to take that final step to the podium in downhill so far.
"I really needed the time in downhill to give everything, to risk everything. If you don't do that, you can't be on the podium. I'm very happy about my run today because it feels great to be back with these guys, to be one of the fastest here."
Local hero Kjetil Jansrud was weakened by a bronchitis at the World Championships two weeks ago, but he came back in a great shape, claiming third place and taking over the red bib of the downhill standings leader.
"It felt good. It's home field advantage so you kind of wanna win, but today was a tight race and third place is good and that makes it even better when you look at the overall (downhill title) and I grab the red jersey back, which is always a good thing even though it's still very tight between Fill and I, it's a good start to the week. I feel much better, the biggest thing is I had bronchitis in the World Champs. Now that's way better, now I don't have any problems."
Tomorrow, another downhill race will take place in Kvitfjell, starting at 12.00 CET. It may be a decisive race for the cup standings, as it’s the penultimate race of the season. Jansrud is in the lead, ahead of Italy’s Peter Fill (13 points behind) and Dominik Paris (65 points back).
