Kristoffersen squeaks out Hirscher in Levi

Henrik Kristoffersen tops the men’s podium at the 2014 World Cup Levi. GEPA

The men’s World Cup slalom opener could serve as a harbinger for a rivalry to come this season, as the world’s two best slalom skiers, in a league of their own on Sunday, battled it to within twelve-hundredths of a second on the Levi Black course in Finland.

Twenty-year-old Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, likened by some to Mikaela Shiffrin on the men’s tour for his youthful promise in technical disciplines, overtook Marcel Hirscher who held the slight edge after the first run. A gritty second run ultimately paid dividends for Kristoffersen, who simply took more risk than the clean-skiing Austrian to claim the second win of his young career.

“(Levi) is an awesome place, it’s the closest I get to home,” said Kristoffersen. “Everybody is cheering on and it’s really fun to ski here. The course and the snow is really good. It almost didn’t feel any different starting one or starting 29th in the second run, so that was really cool.”

For many, Kristoffersen emerged onto the scene this time last year with his first career World Cup podium in Levi, setting the stage for a remarkable 2013-14 season that included a win in Schladming and an Olympic bronze medal in Sochi. Prior to last season, Norway hadn’t landed a slalom skier on the podium since 2004, and today’s race nearly saw two with teammate Sebastian Foss Solevaag fourth, a mere hundredth out of third. Meanwhile, with his first career victory at Soelden fresh in memory, a bulked-up Hirscher continued his charge into the season with sights set at a fourth-straight overall title.

It took all of two runs with the racers to settle it, but in the end Kristoffersen managed the fastest combined time of 1 minute, 50.39 seconds, just .12 seconds in front of Hirscher.

“Today it was an unbelievable fight with Henrik. We saw it already last year what he can do when he won in Schladming, in front of me and Felix,” Hirscher said after the race. “I know that I have to push my level each and every day to keep up with the guys. He makes almost no mistakes and it’s pleasure to see him ski, so I’ll take it.”

Felix Neureuther’s patience in returning from back injury — he opted out of Soelden — proved a wise strategy, finishing a distant, albeit impressive, third place — 1.31 seconds behind Kristoffersen. The German came off a bit rusty in his opening run, finishing eighth, but with Norway’s Solevaag also logging a similarly lopsided performance (third and sixth, respectively), the door was cracked open for Neureuther to sneak onto the final podium step.

“Just a few days ago, I didn’t think I could be fast here, as I never really skied well on this hill but two days ago things changed,” said Neureuther. “I was able to find the right setup and I realized I might be ready for the podium, but Henrik and Marcel were in a league of their own today so I have some work to do in the next days.”

“Before today I already knew I could win, added Kristoffersen. “I did it in Schladming, but I am also aware that I am still competing against the best guys in the world. The guys on the podium with me were the best in last year’s slalom standings, and that means something.”

Ted Ligety led the American squad in 18th place, picking up time on the technical pitch but with a couple close calls, nearly straddling coming through the lower combination onto the flat. Ligety will need to improve on past results in slalom and super G if he’s to make a run at the overall, especially with Hirscher on an early tear.

“There’s definitely a lot to improve,” said Ligety, who was also disappointed with his giant slalom opener in Soelden. “We haven’t had good training volume in slalom because Colorado is in such tough conditions. I feel like I skied better second run, just made mistakes in the wrong spots. It is what it is, move on to the next one.”

Crested Butte’s David Chodounsky snagged his first career points at Levi with a 26th-place result. The former Dartmouth skier got himself into trouble a couple times in the second run; he made some impressive recoveries, but they ultimately took their toll as he hit the lower flat.

“I came in here skiing really well, so I was hoping to perform a little better,” said Chodounsky. “I had a better second run going, but a broken pole in the first five gates didn’t really help me out. This one didn’t go my way but I’ve got to keep fighting because I’m happy with the way I’m skiing.”

While Ligety and Chodounsky were the sole Americans to qualify for second run, the U.S. was also represented by Will Gregorak, Nolan Kasper, Michael Ankeny, Tim Kelley and Will Brandenburg.

The biggest leap of the day came from technical specialist Cristian Deville of Italy (ranked as best as fourth in the world in slalom in 2012) who moved up from bib 70 to finish 13th. The tour veteran had fallen outside the top 30 last season for the first time since 2009 and is battling his way back up the rankings. Independent Canadian skier Julien Cousineau was the lone finisher for the True North in 16th.

The men next race in Lake Louise with downhill training runs scheduled to begin on Nov. 26.

See more photos from today’s race here.

THE SCOOP

By Hank McKee

1. Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2. Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3. Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
4. Solevaag, Voelkl/Fischer/Marker
5. Thaler, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
6. Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
7. Hargin, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8. Khoroshilov, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
9. Myhrer, Head/Head/Head
10. Yule, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

Men’s World Cup slalom, Levi, Finland, Nov. 16, 2014:

• It is the second of 36 races on the men’s World Cup schedule … the first of ten scheduled slaloms. … It is the 18^th World Cup race, all slaloms, held at Levi … the seventh for men, all of them held in November. … Marcel Hirscher is the defending champion.
• It is the second career win for Henrik Kristoffersen, the first coming in the Schladming night slalom last season. … It is the 114^th World Cup win for Norway, the 22^nd in slalom. Kristoffersen won World Junior titles in slalom and GS at Jasna 2014, in combined in Quebec 2013 and GS in Roccaraso 2012.
• The winning margin is .12 of a second. Third place is more than a second back (1.31).
• It is the 61^st career World Cup podium placing for Marcel Hirscher and second of the season having won the 2014 opener (Soelden GS). … It is his fourth scoring result at Levi and third straight podium.
• It is the 30^th career World Cup podium for Felix Neureuther … the 24^th in slalom. … It is his first podium at Levi in four starts.
• It is the 14^th best career World Cup result for Jullien Cousineau, his second best at Levi having placed eighth in 2010. … Ted Ligety matches his third-best Levi finish. … He has placed 18^th at Levi three times (2009, 2010, 2014). … It is the 14^th career World Cup scoring result for David Chodounsky and his first points at Levi.
• Hirscher leads the overall standings 180-120 over Fritz Dopfer (sixth in race). … Kristoffersen is third with 100pts. Ligety is the top American on the list in 12^th with 39pts. … Cousineau is the top Canadian in 28^th with 15pts.
• Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 268-213 over Italy. … Germany is third with 202pts. The U.S. is eighth with 49pts and Canada 11^th with 25pts.

RESULTS