'I had nothing to lose': Venier wins first World Cup super-G race
Feb 18, 2024·Alpine Skiing
On a weekend of surprises in Crans Montana, Stephanie Venier (AUT) added her own chapter to the story by triumphing against the odds in Sunday's super-G.
A day after Marta Bassino (ITA) won her first World Cup downhill race, Venier claimed her maiden World Cup super-G victory in the Swiss resort, seven years after her first podium in the discipline.
In a super-G that seemed more suited to technical specialists with sweeping turns at the top and bottom of the piste, Venier defied the course set by skiing the middle section better than anyone to finish first in 1:16.52.
On a course designed by their coach that maximised their giant slalom skills, Italian duo Federica Brignone (+0.04s) and Bassino (+0.15s) rounded out the podium to complete a successful weekend for both skiers.
But it was Venier who established a big lead after skiing a brilliant second sector coming onto the flats, and despite losing significant time to Brignone on the turny lower section, she held on to shade the Italian by four hundredths of a second.
"I did some mistakes, but all in all I'm very happy now," said Venier, 30, whose two previous World Cup victories had come in downhill, including one last month in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
"The last days (10th and 17th in the two Crans Montana downhills) wasn't that easy for me with all the pressure, and I had nothing to lose today.
"My ground speed is good and I handled it great I think."
Did she ever, putting the disappointment of Friday and Saturday behind her and returning to her form from Cortina three weeks ago, when she finished in the top five in all three speed contests, including finishing second in the super-G race.
Venier's sensational run on Sunday allowed her to do something that hasn't always been easy for anyone in Crans Montana: finish ahead of Brignone, who has won four World Cup races in the Swiss resort, all in Alpine combined.
The Italian veteran, sixth and second in the two downhills on Friday and Saturday, skied cleanly throughout and thrived on the bottom section to lead after the first six racers, with only Venier managing to overtake her.
"Four hundredths are burning a little bit but it has been an amazing weekend for me in Crans Montana," Brignone said.
She was left to rue a late line into the last turn before the flats that caught out several skiers, precisely on the part of the Mont-Lachaux course where Venier separated herself from the pack.
"I had to put too much pressure on the right foot before the flat and I lost the speed," said Brignone, but that mistake didn't dampen her enthusiasm for Crans Montana, where she has now reached nine World Cup podiums.
"I really like the slope: it's steep, it's technical and it's amazing," she said.
Her teammate Bassino skied easily the best top section of the field coming off Saturday's win, but lost momentum in a similar way to Brignone coming onto the middle flat section to scrub off time that she couldn't recover.
"I think I made a mistake before the flat, but anyway I tried to stay focused on myself and tried to feel the speed," Bassino said.
"In general the feeling was a little bit strange because the snow was really soft, especially in the last part. It was like the feeling of skiing on water."
Overall World Cup leader Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI) finished sixth after a gruelling weekend to retain her edge in the super-G standings, five points ahead of Cornelia Huetter (AUT, fifth) and 34 clear of Brignone with three races left.
"It's always nice to race at home but those weekends are the most intense so I'm happy that it's over in the end," said the Swiss star, who won Friday's first downhill and came third on Saturday.
The women's World Cup tour moves to the Italian resort of Val di Fassa next weekend for two super-G races that will bring further clarity to the chase for the crystal globe ahead of the World Cup finals in Saalbach, Austria, next month.
