Photo: Marta Bassino. GEPA pictures.

Today’s Sestriere GS winner is fittingly an Italian skier Marta Bassino. She skied with passion and courage on the final run and ignited the Italian crowd with her victory. Today represents her sixth career World Cup victory, all in GS. However, It was her first World Cup victory in nearly two years.

“I am really emotional. Arriving at the line with the green light in front of the Italians was really incredible,” Bassino said. “I know it was hard because the slope was really tough. It was a fight more than a good feeling on my skis but to win here at home is amazing.”

Petra Vlhova is still looking for her first victory of the season. However, she is gaining on the goal. Although Vlhova led after the first run, she clocked the fifth-fastest time on the second to finish third in the race.

“I was a bit in trouble with my skiing, so I was just fighting in the second run,” Vlhová said. “Today was challenging. It was a tough day and really tough conditions, but I am happy with third place.”

Mikaela Shiffrin continues to look for second-run GS speed. She finished fourth in the first run but crossed the second run finish in third and ended the day sixth. The US will have to wait for Shiffrin’s first GS victory of the season, but it will come. Shiffrin now leads the World Cup overall by 25 points ahead of Vlhova. 

“I feel like it was a pretty positive step since Killington. It was much better skiing, but such a rough surface and I made a big mistake on the second run,” Shiffrin said. “I wasn’t going to be winning the race anyway, but I would have been a bit closer.

“It’s just good to know that my skiing’s in a better place, but something I really struggle at is when it’s really, really rough. And I think it’s the roughest course I ever skied in a race, so it was a challenge … But I am happy to come down without an injury and live to fight for tomorrow.”

World champion Lara Gut-Behrami won the only other GS of the season, was seventh, 2.02 behind Bassino and just behind Mikaela Shiffrin.

Sweden’s Sara Hector, on the other hand, finished the first run in sixth and ended the day on the podium in second. Hector made her four position move up the leaderboard by winning the final run. 

US skier Paula Moltzan finished the first run 10th and crossed the second run finish line in the lead. Moltzan has two prior 10th-place finishes, so the day’s eighth-place result represents her career-best GS. Moltzan appears to be in the best form of her life and we look forward to her competing in tomorrow’s slalom.

“Paula I think had her career-best finish in GS,” said Shiffrin, “that’s super exciting.”

Valerie Grenier, the lone Canadian in the race, moved back one position on the second run but finished in 12th. However, the 22 World Cup points she scored in the GS represent her first of the year. 

It is exciting to see six nations represented in the first seven. The USA had two women finish in the top 10, Italy had two and Switzerland had two. Although Austria had seven qualify for the second run, their best woman finished 14th. 

Analysis of the top three and qualified North Americans and final results

Final results of the Sestriere December 10th women’s GS

The Associated Press and US Ski and Snowboard contributed to this report.

This is a developing story, stay tuned for updates.