Feller closes season with slalom victory

Austrian Manuel Feller closed the 2020-21 Audi FIS World Cup season in top form, winning the last race of the season in the slalom at the Season Finals in Lenzerheide.

Feller, who was only in sixth place after the first run, had a nail-biting experience in the leader’s chair as the last five men down the slope. In the end, he staved off two Frenchmen to hang on for the victory, topping Clement Noel by a slim 0.08 seconds and Overall World Cup winner Alexis Pinturault by 0.11 seconds in a very tight race.

With all the globes decided heading into today’s race, the biggest storyline of the day was the duel between the Swiss and Austrian men for the Team Trophy, given to the men’s team with the most World Cup points throughout the entire season. It was a tight race, but in the end, Feller’s victory wasn’t enough to make up the difference as the Swiss earned the men’s trophy in addition to the women’s Team Trophy and Overall Team Trophy.

Also decided in the race was the Longines Rising Star trophy, which went to Italy’s Alex Vinazer thanks to his fourth-place finish today. The women’s giant slalom race winner from today, Alice Robinson won the trophy on the women’s side.

The small slalom globe was already decided heading into today’s final race as Feller’s teammate Marco Schwarz wrapped up the honors a week ago. Schwarz sat in first place heading into the second run, but had a big mistake mid run and was bumped to sixth place on the day. Nevertheless, Schwarz had a successful season with the small slalom globe and finishing in third place in the Overall World Cup standings.

Of note today was the final race of long-time veteran Jean-Baptiste Grange, who was greeted on his final run by dozens of well wishers after the long and memorably career.

With today’s race the 2020-21 Audi FIS World Cup season officially comes to a close.