Norway’s Windingstad storms to first win in Alta Badia parallel slalom
Austria’s Leitinger took his first podium finish in third
ALTA BADIA: Norway’s Rasmus Windingstad stormed to his first World Cup win as the favourites struggled in the parallel giant slalom night race at Alta Badia in northern Italy on Monday. Windingstad finished 0.41sec ahead of Germany’s Stefan Luitz in the final under floodlights in the Dolomites. The 26-year-old blitzed down the hill to deny Luitz a second World Cup win after the giant slalom in Beaver Creek last season.
Austria’s Roland Leitinger took his first podium finish in third, ahead of Norway’s Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen, in the head-to-head duel on runs that are side by side. “Absolutely amazing, I can’t say that I’d been expecting to win any time soon,” said Windingstad.
“My team is more than 80 percent of the reason I’m here. I would probably have quit many years ago if it wasn’t for the chemistry in our team. “This year we’ve new younger guys. I’m getting to be one of the more experienced ones, and it’s working out really well. “You try to be as honest as possible with yourself concerning potential or possible goals. “Today I just felt great.
“We had parallel training a few days ago and I was definitely not the fastest one. I think we have something to look forward to in this discipline going forward.”
Windingstad’s only previous podium finish was second place in the giant slalom at Kranjska Gora in Slovenia last March. But the skier who made his World Cup debut back in February 2014 said he had been boosted by his seventh place in Sunday’s giant slalom in Alta Badia.
“My seventh place was my third best result ever in Giant Slalom,” he said. “Of course I took confidence from this race, but this is a completely different thing. Sometimes you have a good day and sometimes you don’t. “For sure today I had a really good day.”
Reigning world champion Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway, winner of Sunday’s giant slalom, finished seventh, with France’s Alexis Pinturault a disappointing 25th. Pinturault complained of picking up an adductor injury in a race he likened to “a lottery”.
In the final standings, three quarters of the skiers on the “red” run had the edge over their rivals on the parallel “blue” run. “I didn’t have good races but the conditions were far from easy,” continued the three-time Olympic medallist. “There were several injuries because the track was not ready at all. “This parallel format does not delight many people. “It’s a lottery! Just look at the podiums, the regular athletes usually in the first places are not there.” The 25-year-old Kristoffersen holds the overall World Cup lead 67 points ahead of Austria’s Vincent Kreichmayr, with Pinturault third 77 points behind the Norwegian. Pintuarault said he would have to decide whether he is fit for the World Cup combined in Bormio next weekend, an event in which he is the reigning world champion. “It’s difficult to say, it could be a strain but we hope that it is not more serious like a tear,” he said. “I’ll see in the next few days how the pain develops, then we will decide whether or not to do an ultrasound. “But I don’t want to be too alarmist.”
The World Cup continues with two downhills in Bormio, in the Italian Alps, including the cancelled race from Val Gardena, on Friday and Saturday, as well as Sunday’s combined. — AFP