In a thriller of a race that was decided by hundredths of a second, Vincent Kriechmayr takes the Super-G in Val Gardena.
It is the 17th World Cup victory for the 32-year-old athlete from Upper Austria, his eighth in the Super-G. In the women’s Downhill in Val d’Isere on Saturday, Cornelia Hütter finished in third place to secure her second podium of the season.
“My impression of the events in Val Gardena is very positive. In the Super-G, Vincent Kriechmayr’s victory was a really nice result.
He has shown what he is capable of achieving this season. His confidence is good, and he is very satisfied with the equipment.
This is a good basis for the next races,” says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. “James Crawford and some of the young skiers like Franjo von Allmen also produced great performances.
Unfortunately, James Crawford missed out on an even better position in the Downhill on Saturday following his mistake on the Camel Humps section.
Conny Hütter has shown that she is right at the front in the Downhill. She skied really well. Ariana Rädler’s performance was also really good. That gives me a very positive feeling about the race on Sunday.”
“I’m happy with the result and with my performance”
Following a disappointing 17th place in the first Downhill on Thursday in Val Gardena, the Austrian athlete bounced back with the right response in the Super-G the next day.
With bib number 14, he took victory with a lead of just two-hundredths of a second. Vincent Kriechmayr had already stood on top of the podium in Val Gardena in the Super-G back in 2019.
“I’m happy with the result and with my performance. “It was certainly a good run, and I took a lot more risks.
The Super-G course was set on the east side, so you needed to keep piling on the speed right up to the line,” said Vincent Kriechmayr at the finish.
First top-ten finish for Franjo von Allmen
Just 15 hundredths of a second later, James Crawford from Canada finished in sixth place. Having started with bib number 44, Franjo von Allmen from Switzerland not only bagged his first World Cup points in only his third World Cup race, he also raced to ninth place to secure his first top-ten finish.
Guglielmo Bosca from Italy finished in tenth place. Adrien Theaux from France came 13th with bib number 59, Simon Jocher from Germany was 20th, Nils Alphand from France 22nd and his compatriot Alexis Pinturault 29th.
Best Downhill result for Stefan Babinsky
In the first Downhill event, held on a shortened course on Thursday in Val Gardena, James Crawford was the fastest HEAD Worldcup Rebel in fifth place.
Starting with bib number 44, Stefan Babinsky from Austria finished sixth to grab his first top-ten place in the Downhill. The French athlete Matthieu Bailet finished seventh with bib number 33.
World Cup points were also bagged by Ryan Cochran-Siegle from the USA in 14th place, Josef Ferstl from Germany 15th, Vincent Kriechmayr 17th, Guglielmo Bosca 19th, and Adrien Theaux who finished in 26th place.
In the second Downhill in Val Gardena on Saturday, James Crawford also raced to fifth place. Franjo von Allmen meanwhile celebrated another top result in twelfth place.
13th, 14th and 15th place went to Ryan Cochran-Siegle, Vincent Kriechmayr and Nils Alphand. Justin Murisier from Switzerland (24th), Josef Ferstl (25th) and Adrien Theaux (27th) also made it into the top 30.
Second podium this season for Cornelia Hütter
Cornelia Hütter confirmed her top form in the Downhill on Saturday in Val d’Isere. The Austrian athlete finished third to the podium once again. In the Super-G in St. Moritz last week, the 31-year-old already reached the podium in second place.
“We also tried a bit of fine-tuning on the equipment and it worked out really well. I did everything I could, and there’s nothing I can criticise about my effort,” said Cornelia Hütter.
Her compatriot Ariane Rädler finished in seventh place having started with bib number 27. The two Swiss athletes, Corinne Suter and Lara Gut-Behrami finished in ninth and eleventh place.
More World Cup points were notched up for the HEAD World Cup Rebels by Kajsa Vickhoff Lie from Norway in twelfth place, Ragnhild Mowinckel from Norway in 14th, Delia Durrer from Switzerland 15th, Laura Pirovano from Italy 17th, Christine Scheyer from Austria 18th, Laura Gauche from France 22nd, Michelle Niederwieser from Austria 23rd, Emma Aicher from Germany 24th, and Keely Cashman from the USA who finished in 30th place. For Michelle Niederwieser, it was her first World Cup points in her third World Cup race.