Vlhova puts Shiffrin under pressure

Sara Hector had a 55-point lead over Worley before the penultimate race in Are. After the first round, the Swede is still on track with her giant slalom ball mission. Both main rivals Tessa Worley and Mikaela Shiffrin are behind Hector. But Petra Vlhova, who was the fastest in the end despite a big mistake before the flat section, is in the lead, ahead of Azzurra Martha Bassino, who made an excellent run. Sara Hector is still lurking in 1rd place (+3 seconds), Worley in 0,29th (+5 seconds) and Shiffrin in 0,60th (+6 seconds).

The race was opened by Federica Brignone, who came second in the last giant slalom. As the first runner, Brignone showed how difficult the course in Are can sometimes be. The many changes in rhythm were the Azzurra's downfall: in the last few goals, Brignone was always late and fell after threading her hand into the goal.

Mikaela Shiffrin was then the first favorite to start in Sweden. But already at the first intermediate time, the American was just over 1 tenths behind the Swiss Michelle Gisin, and was unable to make up for this deficit with a rather passive run. This cautious ride means 3th place after the first round, 1 seconds behind the leader Vlhova and half a second behind Sara Hector. Mikaela Shiffrin is 0,79 seconds behind Petra Vlhova. © ANSA / JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT

In the fight for the overall World Cup, Petra Vlhova showed off well. The Slovakian was not impressed by the 117 point gap to Shiffrin and drove an outstanding race in the upper part of the route. Vlhova would have clearly outpaced all of her competitors if she hadn't made a mistake before the flat section at the end of the run, which cost her a lot of speed and time. Nevertheless, the Slovakian leads in Are after the first round by 1 seconds over Bassino. Hector in a good position Sara Hector started with number 6 and showed a lot of aggression right from the start. Although this offensive approach meant a quick drive, the Swede was also prone to making one or two minor mistakes. Hector made some inaccuracies, which meant that at half time he was 29 hundredths of a second behind the leader Vlhova.

Competitor Tessa Worley started the race directly after Hector and showed a more consistent and cleaner ride than the Swede. But the tight final part also became a problem for the Frenchwoman and she ended up in 5th place, just under 3 tenths behind Sara Hector.

The South Tyrolean Karoline Pichler managed to qualify in 30th place and will open the second round.

The showdown between Hector and Worley and Shiffrin and Vlhova takes place at 18.00 p.m.

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Vlhova puts Shiffrin under pressure

While Sara Hector continues to move towards the giant slalom crystal ball after the first round, Petra Vlhova has a good opportunity to get closer to Mikaela Shiffrin in the overall rankings.

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