Hirscher masters Val d’Isere for second year in a row

By Published On: December 14th, 2013Comments Off on Hirscher masters Val d’Isere for second year in a row
SKI ALPIN - FIS WC Val d Isere, RTL, Herren

Hirscher remains dominant in Val d’Isere (GEPA/Mathias Mandl)

Ted Ligety had not failed to finish a World Cup giant slalom race in five seasons, not since Feb. 21, 2009 in Sestriere. If it was going to happen, though, Val d’Isere’s Face de Bellevarde was the place. The track is steep and this year in particular, rather icy. For Ligety, the angles just got too steep. On a course described by Thomas Fanara as “brutally icy,” Ligety tried to compensate for a tactical error a season ago when he backed off and found himself in the weeds. This season, with the first bib and with coach Forest Carey setting the course, Ligety opted to charge and charge hard. It was going well, he was having his usual brilliant run when he needed to lean over a bit too much, losing the bite on his ski and sliding out of the running.

“Ted skied aggressive and clean skiing the whole way,” said head coach Sasha Rearick. “Just on that one roll went a little too straight for the course set and the terrain… once he went out it was an easy adjustment for everybody else to make.”

The second man down the hill, Norwegian great Aksel Lund Svindal, also skied off when his binding pulled out and he was left rudderless. Bode Miller later exited as well, and no other American made the top-30 flip for second run. Rearick said, “Bode got unlucky today, his outside ski caught right in the initiation of the turn.”

Homestanding Alexis Pinturault took the first run lead with German Stefan Luitz in second and defending overall champ Marcel Hirscher tied for third with another French favorite, Fanara.

And did Fanara ever blast the second run, throwing down the gauntlet for the three top skiers from the first run. He was more than a second ahead when he finished, but Hirscher managed to erase that and more despite a mid-course mishap that had both his hands on the snow as he slid around a gate.

“It was really tough,” said Hirscher. “I heard Thomas Fanara’s great time… pretty hard to beat, so I gave my personal best. It is, as every year in Val d’Isere, you can’t imagine how tough it is to ski here. It is just a fight from the start to the bottom.”

Luitz, a surprise second-place finisher in this same race a season ago, could not match the top two which left only Pinturault, an icon in the Val d’Isere region. Though he teased the spectators with the lead early on, he steadily dropped back to finish off the podium in fourth. Canadian Trevor Philp was the lone shining star for North American fans, finishing 27th in only his second time qualifying for the second run in a World Cup race.

Hirscher and Fanara exchanged congratulatory hand slaps and moved toward the podium to accept the spoils of the day. It was Hirscher’s second win of the season and first in GS since Dec. 2009, where he also found the top step of the podium in Val d’Isere.

The requirement for technical excellence called for by the Bellevarde clearly suits Hirscher’s skill set.

“It is nearly perfect for me (here),” he said. “I’m not the hugest or heaviest guy, but I have not a too bad technique and that means technical hills and race slopes are perfect for (me).”

View complete photo gallery here.

 

Watch Hirscher’s winning run (available only in the U.S.)

 

The Scoop

Men’s World Cup giant slalom, Val d’Isere, France, Dec. 14, 2013

Equipment – Skier, skis/boots/bindings

1 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

2 Fanara, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

3 Luitz, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

4 Pinturault, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

5 Nani, Voelkl/Fischer/Marker

6 DeAliprandini, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

7 Olsson, Nordica/Nordica/

8 Moelgg, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

9 Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

10 Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/

Men’s World Cup giant slalom, Val d’Isere, France, Dec. 14, 2013. … It is the eighth of 34 races on the men’s 2013-14 World Cup schedule… the third of eight scheduled GS’s and the second consecutive. It is the 160th World Cup event held, at least in part, at Val d’Isere and the 43rd GS.

It is the 20th career World Cup win for Marcel Hirscher… his eighth in GS. … It is his fourth win at Val d’Isere and third in GS at Val d’Isere in the last four seasons. … It is his 15th straight technical event podium placing.

It is a career best World Cup result for Thomas Fanara, though he has three third-place GS finishes, two from Alta Badia (2010 & 2012) and one from Adelboden (2011). … His best previous World Cup finish at Val d’Isere had been seventh Dec. 9, 2012.

It is the sixth career World Cup scoring result for Stefan Luitz. … It is his second podium, the previous a second-place finish at Val d’Isere in GS last season.

It is the second career World Cup scoring result for Trevor Philp and his second in two straight GS’s, having placed 30th at Beaver Creek Dec. 8.

Aksel Lund Svindal (DNF in race) retains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 360-335 to Hirscher. … Ted Ligety (DNF in race) holds third with 269pts. … Bode Miller is eighth with 153pts. … Top Canadian is Jan Hudec (did not race) in 22nd with 91pts. …

Hirscher takes control of the GS standings 220-200 over Ligety. … Alexis Pinturault (fourth in race) is third with 175pts. … Miller is sixth with 92. … Philp is top Canadian in GS ranked 44th with 5 pts. … Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 1391-929 over France with Italy third at 850pts. … The U.S. is sixth with 508pts and Canada seventh with 254pts.

 

Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time FIS Points
 1  6  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  1:08.92  1:08.29  2:17.21  0.00
 2  3  191750 FANARA Thomas 1981 FRA  1:08.92  1:09.05  2:17.97  4.93
 3  18  202437 LUITZ Stefan 1992 GER  1:08.81  1:09.49  2:18.30  7.07
 4  4  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  1:08.51  1:09.88  2:18.39  7.65
 5  23  294890 NANI Roberto 1988 ITA  1:09.78  1:08.75  2:18.53  8.56
 6  37  990116 DE ALIPRANDINI Luca 1990 ITA  1:10.07  1:08.61  2:18.68  9.54
 7  24  501324 OLSSON Matts 1988 SWE  1:09.65  1:09.09  2:18.74  9.92
 8  7  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  1:09.05  1:10.11  2:19.16  12.65
 9  49  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  1:10.08  1:09.15  2:19.23  13.10
 10  10  202462 DOPFER Fritz 1987 GER  1:09.07  1:10.28  2:19.35  13.88
 11  55  990048 BORSOTTI Giovanni 1990 ITA  1:10.03  1:09.60  2:19.63  15.70
 12  30  511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI  1:09.95  1:09.69  2:19.64  15.76
 13  27  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA  1:10.30  1:09.54  2:19.84  17.06
 14  42  511852 CAVIEZEL Gino 1992 SUI  1:10.66  1:09.21  2:19.87  17.25
 15  13  50625 RAICH Benjamin 1978 AUT  1:10.16  1:09.72  2:19.88  17.32
 16  11  292120 SIMONCELLI Davide 1979 ITA  1:09.17  1:10.80  2:19.97  17.90
 17  19  421669 HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR  1:10.15  1:09.98  2:20.13  18.94
 18  59  6290440 ZINGERLE Alex 1992 ITA  1:10.46  1:09.79  2:20.25  19.72
 19  25  501017 MYHRER Andre 1983 SWE  1:10.76  1:10.03  2:20.79  23.22
 20  58  150644 KRYZL Krystof 1986 CZE  1:11.03  1:10.15  2:21.18  25.75
 21  5  180534 SANDELL Marcus 1987 FIN  1:10.77  1:10.84  2:21.61  28.54
 22  28  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas 1984 FRA  1:11.00  1:10.84  2:21.84  30.03
 23  14  192506 MISSILLIER Steve 1984 FRA  1:11.11  1:10.78  2:21.89  30.36
 24  15  51007 SCHOERGHOFER Philipp 1983 AUT  1:10.10  1:11.97  2:22.07  31.52
 25  56  202265 STAUBITZER Benedikt 1990 GER  1:11.31  1:10.85  2:22.16  32.11
 26  8  194495 FAIVRE Mathieu 1992 FRA  1:10.47  1:11.73  2:22.20  32.37
 27  57  103865 PHILP Trevor 1992 CAN  1:10.94  1:11.39  2:22.33  33.21
 28  50  481327 TRIKHICHEV Pavel 1992 RUS  1:11.22  1:11.82  2:23.04  37.82
Disqualified 1st run
 64  800013 TOLA Erjon 1986 ALB
Did not start 1st run
 12  380260 KOSTELIC Ivica 1979 CRO
Did not qualify for 2nd run
 63  990081 CASSE Mattia 1990 ITA
 62  700879 ZAMPA Andreas 1993 SVK
 60  202345 SCHWAIGER Dominik 1991 GER
 54  51401 GRAF Bernhard 1988 AUT
 47  700830 ZAMPA Adam 1990 SVK
 46  193986 PLACE Francois 1989 FRA
 43  930160 KELLEY Robby 1990 USA
 41  192653 FREY Thomas 1984 FRA
 38  150398 BANK Ondrej 1980 CZE
 35  534038 NICKERSON Warner 1981 USA
 31  934568 RUBIE Brennan 1991 USA
 29  191746 DE TESSIERES Gauthier 1981 FRA
 26  534959 JITLOFF Tim 1985 USA
 20  510727 DEFAGO Didier 1977 SUI
 16  53985 MATHIS Marcel 1991 AUT
Did not finish 2nd run
 40  511741 ZURBRIGGEN Elia 1990 SUI
 22  292967 EISATH Florian 1984 ITA
Did not finish 1st run
 61  54104 WALCH Magnus 1992 AUT
 53  54093 STROLZ Johannes 1992 AUT
 52  561244 KRANJEC Zan 1992 SLO
 51  511896 MURISIER Justin 1992 SUI
 48  54144 MEIER Daniel 1993 AUT
 45  180666 TORSTI Samu 1991 FIN
 44  103078 DONALDSON David 1986 CAN
 39  103676 BROWN Philip 1991 CAN
 36  481006 ZUEV Stepan 1988 RUS
 34  511718 PLEISCH Manuel 1990 SUI
 33  511638 TUMLER Thomas 1989 SUI
 32  180627 MALMSTROM Victor 1991 FIN
 21  532431 MILLER Bode 1977 USA
 17  191423 RICHARD Cyprien 1979 FRA
 9  292000 BLARDONE Massimiliano 1979 ITA
 2  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund 1982 NOR
 1  534562 LIGETY Ted 1984 USA

Share This Article

About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”