Vlhova tames the Swedish beast

In the afternoon there were unusually high temperatures in Åre, which made the already battered piste even more difficult. The organizers hoped that this would become harder as the sun's rays decreased. In fact, the snow conditions took a turn for the worse in the decision. The ski stars had to deal with countless blows, were not allowed to choose the desired line and were given a lot of shakes. The race was like a battle of attrition. An almost unleashed Petra Vlhova won this in an impressive way.

The Slovakian was in a class of her own. Although she was only 0,03 seconds ahead of Marta Bassino after the first run due to a big mistake in the bottom section, she made no mistake in the decision and outclassed the competition. Thanks to a sparkling clean run, she took 1,24 seconds off the Italian in the final tally - impressive. Mikaela Shiffrin's gap to second place was already close to the 2-second mark. With this success, Vlhova reduced her gap in the overall World Cup to 2 points. So everything is still open.

Marta Bassino made it to the podium. © ANSA / PONTUS LUNDAHL

Behind Vlhova, Bassino, who has already been eliminated four times this winter, was happy about her third giant slalom podium of the current season thanks to a real hussar ride. The 26-year-old didn't have a flawless run, but she did have a very committed ride, which meant she edged out Shiffrin. Hector misses the preliminary decision In the fight for the small crystal ball, the previous leader, Sara Hector, suffered a setback. The third-placed team after the first round lost the decision after a few goals and had a bad fall. Fortunately, the Swede remained uninjured. The lead over Tessa Worley, who “only” came fifth, had melted to five points before the last race.

At the same time, Karoline Pichler celebrated a notable success. The 27-year-old qualified for the decision for the first time since January 15, 2019. Even though she rode safely there and ended up 26th, she has reason to be happy. During the three-year dry spell, she competed in 13 giant slalom races, all of which ended after the first round. The upward trend recently seen in the speed races is now continuing. However, the South Tyrolean's World Cup season came to an end with this race, as she did not qualify for the World Cup final in any discipline.

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Vlhova tames the Swedish beast

On Friday evening in Åre (Sweden), Petra Vlhova delivered a true masterpiece on piste conditions unworthy of a World Cup, clinching her first giant slalom victory of the season and thus reigniting the fight for the overall World Cup.

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