'On another level': Brignone overturns La Thuile heartbreak to go top of Super G standings

Federica Brignone (ITA/Rossignol) took the lead in the Super G standings with victory on day two in La Thuile on Friday by one hundredth of a second - making up for a defeat she suffered by the same margin on the same piste five years ago.

Brignone came second in 2020, beaten by Nina Ortlieb (AUT) by the smallest margin possible, but on Friday the Italian was the one dishing out the heartbreak.

The 34-year-old put down a blistering run for a time of 57.95 seconds - one hundredth of a second faster than team-mate Sofia Goggia (ITA/Atomic).

"Five years ago here in La Thuile I was one hundredth behind Nina. Ciao, Nina, all love for you," Brignone said.

"I lost the Super G World Cup that year, so today it's kind of crazy. It came back to me."

There was very little to separate second from third as well, with Romane Miradoli (FRA/Dynastar) finishing five hundredths of a second behind Brignone to secure a Audi FIS Ski World Cup podium for the first time since January 2024.

The victory put Brignone at the top of the Super G standings, five points ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami (SUI/Head) who came tied fourth with team-mate Corinne Suter (SUI/Head) on Friday, both finishing 35 hundredths of a second behind Brignone.

However, it was the victory on home soil in front of her friends and family that seemed to please Brignone the most. It was her first World Cup victory on the course on which she became a junior national champion in Slalom all the way back in 2006.

"This is an amazing day," the Rossignol skier said. "Winning in front of my people is something that I really wanted this year, it was one of my biggest dreams to win here in La Thuile. I couldn't finish my career without it.

"I have no words. Today there really are no words. My dream was to come to La Thuile and to see the green light in front of my people, and I did it. This is one of the dreams of the season.

"I love this place.

"It's kind of crazy emotions now."

Brignone had said before the race that the added responsibilities and relationships of a home race had fatigued her on day one where she finished third - and she was determined to rectify that on day two.

"Yesterday was a hard day. It's a lot of energy if you know everybody and you share words with everybody. I was all day going there and there and there," said Brignone, who now has 14 podiums this season - the most she has recorded in one campaign.

"This morning I woke up and I said 'OK, today, only energy for the race.'

"I am really happy and proud. This is just amazing."

For Goggia, it was a second consecutive second-place finish in La Thuile, having come second behind Emma Aicher (GER/Head) on Thursday. The 21-year-old German Aicher looked set to usurp Brignone and win back-to-back races when she saw a succession of green lights at the start of her run, but racing on the edge eventually got away from her as she missed a gate to record a DNF on day two.

It was not the first time this season that Goggia has lost to Brignole by one hundredth of a second in a World Cup race: Brignole achieved the same feat to beat her team-mate in the Garmisch Downhill in January.

However, Goggia said the disappointment of losing out by the barest of margins was made up for by the fact she went toe to toe with a friend who is operating "on another level" on the snow.

"One hundredth behind is nothing, but at the same time I am really proud to share the podium with her," the Atomic athlete said.

"She's doing amazing, I think she's on another level. So skiing as she's doing is for me something special."

Miradoli, meanwhile, now has three individual World Cup podiums to her name, having previously won in Lenzerheide in 2022 and finished third in St. Moritz in the same year.

"I'm really happy because it wasn't easy," the Frenchwoman said. "All the season I have been challenging myself to find the right way to be back on the podium. So I'm really happy with what I put on the slope today.

"It was really nice starting with bib one. It was really stressful but we had pretty much the same track as yesterday so I just trusted myself and pushed until the finish because yesterday I was so slow down here so I tried my best.

"First podium of the season, that tells it by itself."

Brignone is now 382 points ahead of Gut-Behrami in the Overall standings and is set to win her first Overall Crystal Globe since 2020 when racing gets underway in the final stop in Sun Valley later this month.

But there is still plenty to fight for the in the Super G Crystal Globe, where there is just those five points separating her from her Swiss rival.

"There's still a race to go, and I know Lara really well; she's not going to leave me alone with that bib. It's going to be a good fight so I need to concentrate," Brignone said.

"I hope I can still have some energy to give in the finals and then we will see."