Hirscher Clinches GS Globe in Kranjska Gora

By Published On: March 3rd, 2018Comments Off on Hirscher Clinches GS Globe in Kranjska Gora

Marcel Hirscher continued his reign of dominance in men’s World Cup giant slalom on Saturday, easily taking the win in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, by a whopping 1.66 seconds over Norwegian rival Henrik Kristoffersen. The Austrian has now won all but one GS race he has entered this season, including last month’s Olympic Games.

In contrast to the spring-like conditions of recent years in Kranjska Gora, racers were treated to light fog and aggressive winter snow as the Austrian powered his way to his 56th World Cup win, handily winning both runs in the process. Hirscher also clinched his 15th crystal globe, amassing enough points to find himself over 100 points clear of Kristoffersen in the GS standings heading into World Cup finals later this month.

We haven’t seen an athlete have a stranglehold on GS on the men’s side of the World Cup since the days of American Ted Ligety’s mastery of the discipline in the early 2010s. If it weren’t for a third-place finish from Val d’Isere last December, Hirscher’s winning streak would stretch back over a year. That’s eight out of the last nine World Cup GS races he has contested, in addition to his Olympic and World Championship titles. Simply stunning.

“I’m super, super happy with today’s race,” said Hirscher. “It was definitely not easy to manage it down to the finish line, especially second run. I’m super excited to say that 10 years ago, I had my first World Cup podium of my career here in Kranjska Gora so it is kind of a birthday of 10 years of international ski racing at a pretty high level. I’m very thankful for this.”

Kristoffersen, who has admitted to dedicating much of his pre-season training to his GS form has had to play second fiddle all season, finishing second to Hirscher five times in GS this season, including an Olympic silver medal. The Norwegian has also landed on the podium 13 times this year, but only one victory.

“I’m pretty happy,” Kristoffersen said after the race. “I did a big mistake in the second run so I lost a lot of time there, but except that the skiing is pretty good. I kept it close until the last part in the first run to Marcel, but at the moment he’s just a little bit in his own league. We’re gonna keep on fighting and continue fighting this summer and work hard and we’ll see maybe if we can give him a little bit more of a fight next year in GS.”

France’s Alexis Pinturault found his way back on the World Cup podium for the first time since early January, rounding out the podium in third, 2.51 seconds adrift of Hircher. The Frenchman has a good relationship with Kranjska Gora, winning the GS in 2015 and 2016, but admitted to struggling to keep his post-Olympic energy levels high.

“I’m happy with the result because it was a really big fight against the others, but also against myself,” he shared. “This year, my goal was the Olympics so that’s the reason I cut out many, many World Cups. I would say that I am happy with my Olympics and the rest is more like a bonus, I would say.”

Tommy Ford led three Americans into the top 15. Image Credit: GEPA Pictures/Matic Klansek

It was also a solid day for the Americans as Tommy Ford scored his second top 10 of the season in ninth, followed closely by Vermont’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle in 10th for his career-best GS finish. Tim Jitloff also landed in 14th, giving the Americans three athletes in the top 15. Ligety and Hig Roberts both ran into trouble on their first runs and were unable to finish.

“It was a fight,” said Ford. “Two big mistakes, one each run, but the skiing was there. It’s been a battle throughout the season and I’m glad to have this race today on this kind of snow. I know I can do it, but I’ve got some work to do. In between runs I kept it going and the plan continued throughout.”

“It was great,” added Cochran-Siegle, who also clocked in the third-fastest second run. “That’s what I look for when I’m ski racing, the ability to push and challenge myself all the way down the hill. That second run, I couldn’t be happier with it. I got to sit down in that winner’s box for a while which is always fun, too.”

The men will close out the weekend in Kranjska Gora with a slalom race on Sunday, March 4.


Top 10

  1. Marcel Hirscher (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  2. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
  3. Alexis Pinturault (FRA) – Head/Head/Head
  4. Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen (NOR) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
  5. Zan Kranjec (SLO) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
  6. Manuel Feller (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  7. Victor Mufat-Jeandet (FRA) – Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
  8. Rasmus Windingstad (NOR) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
  9. Tommy Ford (USA) – Head/Head/Head
  10. Ryan Cochran-Siegle (USA) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points WC Points
 1  1  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  1:10.12  1:10.64  2:20.76  0.00  100
 2  4  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  1:10.85  1:11.57  2:22.42  +1.66  11.56  80
 3  3  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  1:11.53  1:11.74  2:23.27  +2.51  17.48  60
 4  8  421669 NESTVOLD-HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR  1:11.76  1:11.78  2:23.54  +2.78  19.35  50
 5  7  561244 KRANJEC Zan 1992 SLO  1:11.53  1:12.67  2:24.20  +3.44  23.95  45
 6  6  54063 FELLER Manuel 1992 AUT  1:12.44  1:11.96  2:24.40  +3.64  25.34  40
 7  9  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA  1:12.32  1:12.31  2:24.63  +3.87  26.94  36
 8  36  422278 WINDINGSTAD Rasmus 1993 NOR  1:13.23  1:11.46  2:24.69  +3.93  27.36  32
 9  21  531799 FORD Tommy 1989 USA  1:13.28  1:11.92  2:25.20  +4.44  30.91  29
 10  28  6530319 COCHRAN-SIEGLE Ryan 1992 USA  1:14.05  1:11.46  2:25.51  +4.75  33.07  26
 11  34  180666 TORSTI Samu 1991 FIN  1:13.67  1:12.07  2:25.74  +4.98  34.67  24
 12  17  512182 MEILLARD Loic 1996 SUI  1:13.59  1:12.33  2:25.92  +5.16  35.92  22
 13  27  202462 DOPFER Fritz 1987 GER  1:14.09  1:11.90  2:25.99  +5.23  36.41  20
 14  30  534959 JITLOFF Tim 1985 USA  1:13.78  1:12.46  2:26.24  +5.48  38.15  18
 15  35  700830 ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK  1:15.03  1:11.38  2:26.41  +5.65  39.34  16
 16  24  103729 READ Erik 1991 CAN  1:14.98  1:11.57  2:26.55  +5.79  40.31  15
 17  25  511741 ZURBRIGGEN Elia 1990 SUI  1:14.37  1:12.28  2:26.65  +5.89  41.01  14
 18  46  990051 BOSCA Giulio Giovanni 1990 ITA  1:13.82  1:13.08  2:26.90  +6.14  42.75  13
 19  15  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  1:13.95  1:12.99  2:26.94  +6.18  43.03  12
 20  41  422390 MONSEN Marcus 1995 NOR  1:14.17  1:12.79  2:26.96  +6.20  43.17  11
 20  23  202597 SCHMID Alexander 1994 GER  1:13.61  1:13.35  2:26.96  +6.20  43.17  11
 22  32  54093 STROLZ Johannes 1992 AUT  1:13.82  1:13.15  2:26.97  +6.21  43.24  9
 22  19  291318 TONETTI Riccardo 1989 ITA  1:14.11  1:12.86  2:26.97  +6.21  43.24  9
 24  29  990048 BORSOTTI Giovanni 1990 ITA  1:14.81  1:12.17  2:26.98  +6.22  43.30  7
 25  51  422073 NETELAND Bjoernar 1991 NOR  1:14.18  1:13.04  2:27.22  +6.46  44.98  6
 26  20  380335 ZUBCIC Filip 1993 CRO  1:14.41  1:13.11  2:27.52  +6.76  47.06  5
 27  55  561322 HADALIN Stefan 1995 SLO  1:15.04  1:12.52  2:27.56  +6.80  47.34  4
 28  33  103865 PHILP Trevor 1992 CAN  1:14.06  1:13.70  2:27.76  +7.00  48.74  3
Did not finish 2nd run
 11  990116 DE ALIPRANDINI Luca 1990 ITA  1:12.57  0
 10  511896 MURISIER Justin 1992 SUI  1:13.26  0
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 70  942023 TAHIRI Albin 1989 KOS  1:21.93  0
 69  561404 BOZIC Borut 2000 SLO  1:17.97  0
 65  561291 GROSELJ Zan 1993 SLO  1:17.74  0
 64  491853 DEL CAMPO Juan 1994 ESP  1:17.46  0
 61  400237 MEINERS Maarten 1992 NED  1:16.18  0
 60  54444 GSTREIN Fabio 1997 AUT  1:17.67  0
 59  20398 VERDU Joan 1995 AND  1:15.16  0
 57  194457 GALEOTTI Greg 1992 FRA  1:16.63  0
 50  410365 BARWOOD Adam 1992 NZL  1:15.85  0
 48  6291430 MAURBERGER Simon 1995 ITA  1:15.36  0
 42  700879 ZAMPA Andreas 1993 SVK  1:18.81  0
 39  53985 MATHIS Marcel 1991 AUT  1:15.15  0
 38  54252 RASCHNER Dominik 1994 AUT  1:15.38  0
 26  294890 NANI Roberto 1988 ITA  1:15.86  0
Did not finish 1st run
 68  380363 KOLEGA Elias 1996 CRO  0
 67  151024 KOTZMANN Adam 1993 CZE  0
 66  511983 AERNI Luca 1993 SUI  0
 63  561313 DVORNIK Aljaz 1995 SLO  0
 62  481730 KUZNETSOV Ivan 1996 RUS  0
 58  202765 NORYS Frederik 1996 GER  0
 56  92720 POPOV Albert 1997 BUL  0
 54  516287 BUGNARD Pierre 1993 SUI  0
 53  202584 RAUCHFUSS Julian 1994 GER  0
 52  502015 JAKOBSEN Kristoffer 1994 SWE  0
 49  194935 FAVROT Thibaut 1994 FRA  0
 47  53889 HIRSCHBUEHL Christian 1990 AUT  0
 45  103676 BROWN Phil 1991 CAN  0
 44  934566 ROBERTS Hig 1991 USA  0
 43  221213 RAPOSO Charlie 1996 GBR  0
 40  410364 FEASEY Willis 1992 NZL  0
 37  54104 WALCH Magnus 1992 AUT  0
 31  512269 ODERMATT Marco 1997 SUI  0
 22  501017 MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  0
 18  511852 CAVIEZEL Gino 1992 SUI  0
 16  422139 KILDE Aleksander Aamodt 1992 NOR  0
 14  191750 FANARA Thomas 1981 FRA  0
 13  534562 LIGETY Ted 1984 USA  0
 12  292967 EISATH Florian 1984 ITA  0
 5  501324 OLSSON Matts 1988 SWE  0
 2  194495 FAIVRE Mathieu 1992 FRA  0

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About the Author: Sean Higgins

A Lake Tahoe native and University of Vermont graduate, Higgins was a member of the Catamounts' 2012 NCAA title winning squad and earned first team All-American honors in 2013. Prior to coming to Ski Racing Media, he coached U14s for the Squaw Valley Ski Team.