World class giant slalom at Adelboden

It was a fight at the highest level on the Chuenisbärgli in Adelboden today for the 5th giant slalom of the season. Not less than 31’000 thousands spectators cheered for the 70 athletes at the start. With Marcel Hirscher, Henrik Kristoffersen and Alexis Pinturault, the three biggest names among the tech athletes managed to earn a podium today.

Marcel Hirscher is in an impressive shape at the moment. He won not less than six races this season and claimed 8 podium placements. In giant slalom, the statistic is even more imposing, as he won 8 out of the 10 last races in that discipline including the World Championships. His run was not flawless, as it is often the case on the challenging Chuenisbärgli, but it was enough for the champion to grab a 51st World Cup victory.

In second position, for the 6th time this season, Henrik Kristoffersen found his way to the podium, despite a big mistake in the final pitch. The Norwegian made a big step in this discipline, becoming constant at a very high level. Today, he was only +0.17 away from a second career win in giant slalom. Kristoffersen currently places 2nd in all three cup standings he is in: the giant slalom, the slalom and the Overall. Always behind Marcel Hirscher.

The giant slalom season started with a win in front of his home crowd for Alexis Pinturault in Val d’Isère. If last year he could win the Adelboden race +0.04 ahead of Marcel Hirscher, this time he ranked behind the Austrian and Kristoffersen, in third place. The Frenchman moved up to the podium from his 5th place in the first run as he was the fastest in all the splits of the second run, but not enough for the win today.

Tomorrow, a slalom will be held on the Chuenisbärgli, starting at 10h30 / 13h30. Will Henrik Kristoffersen manage to claim his first win of the season or is someone else going to win the fought for cow bell awarded to the winner?