Rebensburg wins women’s giant slalom
But Maze extends World Cup lead
Victoria Rebensburg won the women’s giant slalom World Cup race Wednesday, breaking Slovenian Tina Maze’s winning streak.
Under floodlights, the German two-time defending champion in the giant slalom clocked the best opening run and then managed to hold on in the second to win in a total time of two minutes, 28.94 seconds.
Austrian Anna Fenninger was second, 0.62 behind.
“I have been in good shape the last couple of weeks, even though Courchevel where I finished 15th (last week) wasn’t that good,” Rebensburg said of her improving form. “Today I tried to push and ski as good as possible. I knew I’ve been going in the right direction.”
Maze, who arrived in the Swedish resort with four consecutive giant slalom wins this season, was third, 0.91 behind the winner.
After taking a convincing lead in the first run, Rebensburg recovered from a severe mistake in the second to hold on for the win.
“I just tried to fight back in the course, I thought the speed wasn’t gone and I knew I was one second ahead. I kept pushing,” she said.
It was the ninth World Cup victory for Rebensburg, and her eighth in giant slalom. She finished on the podium in GS races at St. Moritz and Aspen.
Despite having her winning streak ended, Maze still added to her overall World Cup lead. She moved to 859 points, 351 ahead of German Maria Hoefl-Riesch.
“The first run was not what I wanted. I was quite disappointed with that one. It was hard to find the speed,” Maze said. “It’s hard to always make a perfect run.
“Still, I’m happy with my performance today. I hope to do a good slalom (Thursday). (Thursday) is another 100 points.”
Maze attributed her form this season to a gradual improvement in her skiing.
“It’s year by year that I’ve been doing better,” she said. “Last year, I was second (overall) ... (But) last season was the hardest ever for me. I was always there but never on top (of a race). I think I was one-hundredth behind once.”
Overall champion Lindsey Vonn was absent from the event, having opted for a mid-season break to fully recover from an intestinal illness. In March, the American clinched her fourth overall title by winning the giant slalom race here.