Pinturault hangs on for spectacular Adelboden win

By Published On: January 7th, 2017Comments Off on Pinturault hangs on for spectacular Adelboden win

ADELBODEN, Switzerland — Classics season kicked off on Saturday with the men’s giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland, delivering nail-biting action as Frenchman Alexis Pinturault took his 19th career World Cup win, surpassing French legend Jean-Claude Killy as the winningest French World Cup skier of all time.

Pinturault’s winning time of 2:23.99 seconds was only a razor-slim 0.04 seconds ahead of Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, who with his second place finish on Saturday recorded his 100th career World Cup podium. Third place went to Hirscher’s compatriot Philipp Schoerghofer, who ended the day 1.94 seconds off of the pace.

The first run saw Pinurault set the pace early with bib one on the fast set that favored aggressive skiing. The Frenchman had a comfortable 0.64 second margin over Schoerghofer in second and 0.70 seconds on Hirscher, who sat third after the first run.

Clouds rolled in for the start of the second run and flat light was the name of the game on the notoriously terrain-filled track, adding an extra level of danger as the top 30 took to the course. With a run that can only be described as incredible, Hirscher looked to have laid his claim on the top step of the podium when he crossed the line with nearly a two-second advantage with only Schoerghofer and Pinturault left to ski. Schoerghofer could not match Hirscher’s pace, however, and slid into second.

ADELBODEN, SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 07: Alexis Pinturault of France takes 1st place, Marcel Hirscher of Austria takes 2nd place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Men's Giant Slalom on January 07, 2017 in Adelboden, Switzerland (Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom)

Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom

Pinturault, after hearing the crowd erupt when Hirscher crossed the line, knew he had to bring something extra to his run if he was to walk away with his first career victory at the iconic venue. After matching the Austrian’s pace on the first two intervals, the Frenchman crossed the finish with only 0.04 seconds to spare as the devoted Swiss crowd erupted into cheers of congratulations.

“I thought when I crossed the line that it was long enough for me today, one or two gates more and I would be maybe behind so I’m really happy about those four hundredths,” reflected Pinturault. “It’s a victory, so It’s something very special. I heard the crowd but it was more or less like every time; you make the first run and then you have to make also the second run and push even maybe harder in the second run.”

Hirscher may have walked away with the win if it weren’t for a first-run mistake, and knew that if he was to have any chance at a victory, he had to bring it all in the second run in order to challenge Pinturault.

“You know, I’m super, super happy with my second run today, another eighty points in the books,” Hirscher explained. “For sure, first run was with this mistake not what I was hoping for and if I want to search for four hundredths of a second, this was the mistake in the first run, that is for sure. I am super happy with my skiing in the second run, that was amazing, and it felt great and so it is a good day.”

For Schoerghofer, who has been enjoying a return to form after some struggles, a podium in Adelboden is a dream come true.

“It was a great day for me,” he said. “It was a big target for me to be on the podium today. I always want to be on the podium in Adelboden as a GS specialist. It’s so cool here to be on the podium, the crowd is so amazing and the hill is great. There’s a lot of tradition here, so I am very happy with my third place here.”

For the Americans, Tommy Ford and Brennan Rubie walked away with some hard-fought points in 19th and 24th, respectively.

“I thought I skied well,” said Ford. “It’s dark light, and I thought I was moving well through most of the course. I had a hard time generating on that (second run) set. And then on the bottom, I’m still getting used to that; it’s definitely a challenging bottom section.”

For Rubie, despite moving back from a 14th-place finish in the first run, his first World Cup GS points are very welcome heading into the second half of the season.

“I was pretty happy with the way it turned out,” he said. “I think I skied well on top and had a mistake. I’ve just got to watch some video and see what I can do next time.”

For the remainder of the American squad, Ryan Cochran-Siegle did not qualify for the second run and Hig Roberts did not finish his first. Ted Ligety did not race as he is still recovering from a back injury and Tim Jitloff’s back went out during warm-ups before first run and was unable to start.

The men now race slalom in Adelboden on Sunday, Jan. 8.

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Top 10

  1. Alexis Pinturault (FRA) – Head/Head/Head
  2. Marcel Hirscher (AUT) – Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
  3. Philip Schoerghofer (AUT) – Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
  4. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) – Rossignol/Rossignol/Look
  5. Mathieu Faivre (FRA) – Head/Head/Head
  6. Matts Olsson (SWE) – Head/Head/Head
  7. Victor Muffat-Jeandet (FRA) – Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
  8. Felix Neureuther (GER) – Nordica/Nordica/Marker
  9. Florian Eisath (ITA) – Blizzard/Tecnica/Marker
  10. Samu Torsti (FIN) – Nordica/Nordica/Marker

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points WC Points
 1  1  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  1:12.91  1:11.08  2:23.99  0.00  100.00
 2  5  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  1:13.61  1:10.42  2:24.03  +0.04  0.27  80.00
 3  3  51007 SCHOERGHOFER Philipp 1983 AUT  1:13.55  1:12.38  2:25.93  +1.94  13.20  60.00
 4  6  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  1:14.22  1:11.80  2:26.02  +2.03  13.82  50.00
 5  7  194495 FAIVRE Mathieu 1992 FRA  1:14.44  1:11.60  2:26.04  +2.05  13.95  45.00
 6  25  501324 OLSSON Matts 1988 SWE  1:14.70  1:11.37  2:26.07  +2.08  14.16  40.00
 7  2  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA  1:14.33  1:11.86  2:26.19  +2.20  14.97  36.00
 8  4  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix 1984 GER  1:14.92  1:11.34  2:26.26  +2.27  15.45  32.00
 9  10  292967 EISATH Florian 1984 ITA  1:15.47  1:11.29  2:26.76  +2.77  18.85  29.00
 10  52  180666 TORSTI Samu 1991 FIN  1:15.72  1:11.21  2:26.93  +2.94  20.01  26.00
 11  8  421669 HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR  1:14.10  1:12.95  2:27.05  +3.06  20.83  24.00
 12  24  192506 MISSILLIER Steve 1984 FRA  1:15.95  1:11.27  2:27.22  +3.23  21.98  22.00
 13  21  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  1:15.44  1:11.86  2:27.30  +3.31  22.53  20.00
 14  31  150644 KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE  1:15.88  1:11.47  2:27.35  +3.36  22.87  18.00
 15  13  561244 KRANJEC Zan 1992 SLO  1:15.06  1:12.33  2:27.39  +3.40  23.14  16.00
 16  22  380335 ZUBCIC Filip 1993 CRO  1:15.79  1:11.74  2:27.53  +3.54  24.09  15.00
 17  42  422073 NETELAND Bjoernar 1991 NOR  1:15.90  1:11.65  2:27.55  +3.56  24.23  14.00
 18  11  54063 FELLER Manuel 1992 AUT  1:15.75  1:11.85  2:27.60  +3.61  24.57  13.00
 19  29  531799 FORD Tommy 1989 USA  1:15.37  1:12.34  2:27.71  +3.72  25.32  12.00
 20  15  501017 MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  1:15.46  1:12.40  2:27.86  +3.87  26.34  11.00
 21  40  700879 ZAMPA Andreas 1993 SVK  1:16.42  1:11.53  2:27.95  +3.96  26.95  10.00
 22  17  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR  1:16.36  1:11.72  2:28.08  +4.09  27.84  9.00
 23  47  511718 PLEISCH Manuel 1990 SUI  1:16.28  1:11.85  2:28.13  +4.14  28.18  8.00
 24  33  934568 RUBIE Brennan 1991 USA  1:15.41  1:12.82  2:28.23  +4.24  28.86  7.00
 25  56  194457 GALEOTTI Greg 1992 FRA  1:16.27  1:11.98  2:28.25  +4.26  28.99  6.00
 26  39  422278 WINDINGSTAD Rasmus 1993 NOR  1:15.59  1:12.74  2:28.33  +4.34  29.54  5.00
 27  19  291318 TONETTI Riccardo 1989 ITA  1:16.30  1:12.16  2:28.46  +4.47  30.42  4.00
 28  9  990116 DE ALIPRANDINI Luca 1990 ITA  1:14.71  1:13.82  2:28.53  +4.54  30.90  3.00
 29  18  294890 NANI Roberto 1988 ITA  1:15.34  1:13.22  2:28.56  +4.57  31.10  2.00
 30  43  53889 HIRSCHBUEHL Christian 1990 AUT  1:16.44  1:12.15  2:28.59  +4.60  31.31  1.00
Did not start 1st run
 67  700868 FALAT Matej 1993 SVK
 28  534959 JITLOFF Tim 1985 USA
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 68  54106 BREITFUSS KAMMERLANDER Simon 1992 BOL
 66  30149 SIMARI BIRKNER Cristian Javier 1980 ARG
 63  561322 HADALIN Stefan 1995 SLO
 62  6291574 SALA Tommaso 1995 ITA
 61  40612 SCOTT Alec 1997 AUS
 60  202451 STRASSER Linus 1992 GER
 55  290095 BALLERIN Andrea 1989 ITA
 50  54320 SCHWARZ Marco 1995 AUT
 49  103865 PHILP Trevor 1992 CAN
 48  6530319 COCHRAN-SIEGLE Ryan 1992 USA
 45  103676 BROWN Phil 1991 CAN
 44  512269 ODERMATT Marco 1997 SUI
 37  53985 MATHIS Marcel 1991 AUT
 36  202345 SCHWAIGER Dominik 1991 GER
 35  481327 TRIKHICHEV Pavel 1992 RUS
 34  700830 ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK
 27  103729 READ Erik 1991 CAN
 26  51159 NOESIG Christoph 1985 AUT
 20  54031 LEITINGER Roland 1991 AUT
Did not finish 1st run
 65  410365 BARWOOD Adam 1992 NZL
 64  60253 MARCHANT Armand 1997 BEL
 59  502015 JAKOBSEN Kristoffer 1994 SWE
 58  6291725 ZINGERLE Hannes 1995 ITA
 57  934566 ROBERTS Hig 1991 USA
 54  410364 FEASEY Willis 1992 NZL
 53  511741 ZURBRIGGEN Elia 1990 SUI
 51  54144 MEIER Daniel 1993 AUT
 46  511857 JENAL Sandro 1992 SUI
 41  6291430 MAURBERGER Simon 1995 ITA
 38  180705 PIRINEN Eemeli 1993 FIN
 32  194873 SARRAZIN Cyprien 1994 FRA
 30  534508 CHODOUNSKY David 1984 USA
 23  511852 CAVIEZEL Gino 1992 SUI
 16  422139 KILDE Aleksander Aamodt 1992 NOR
 14  202437 LUITZ Stefan 1992 GER
 12  511896 MURISIER Justin 1992 SUI

 

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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.