Swede Pietilae-Holmner wins Aspen World Cup Slalom, Vonn eighth

The last women down the slalom hill grabbed the win today (Nov. 28) at the Aspen Winternational.

After taking a 0.09-second lead into the second run, Swede Maria Pietilae-Holmner beat German Maria Riesch (the Olympic slalom champion and reigning world champion in the discipline) by 0.68 seconds to grab her first career World Cup victory. It was the 24-year-olds’ second World Cup podium (second in Levi, Finnland in 2008) she just missed the podium in fourth place in slalom at the Vancouver Games.

“Yeah it’s been my day,” Pietilae-Holmner told Fisalpine.com after the race. “But the feeling in the second run was not so good, so I was so surprised to see No. 1 again. It’s unbelievable. I’m so happy. This is the best day.”

Finn Tanja Poutiainen earned her eighth World Cup podium in Aspen in third place 0.93 seconds behind the winner. The 30-year-old has laded on the podium in half of the 16 World Cup races she had competed in here.

Slovakia’s Veronika Zuzulova just missed the podium in fourth place, 0.08 seconds behind Poutiainen.

Colorado local Lindsey Vonn hadn’t finished a World Cup race in Aspen in her last three tries (slalom and GS in 2009 and yesterday’s GS). She put down two solid runs to finish eighth and grab some valuable overall points heading into the World Cup speed opener next weekend in Lake Louise Canada.

“It was really disappointing yesterday and I just wanted to come out and have two solid runs, yesterday I was just expecting too much an I was too excited. I tried to go to aggressive,” said Vonn, the three-time World Cup overall champion. “Today I just relaxed. It may not have been my fastest skiing I’ve ever done but I’m in the top ten and it’s really good points so I’m very happy.”

A challenging first run set by Canadian coach Jim Pollock saw 17 women DNF, including the very first starter, Levi slalom winner Marlies Schild of Austria, who came out of the start gate too aggresive and hooked the first gate. American Julia Mancuso, who led the U.S. with an eighth-place finish in yesterday’s GS, also fell victim to the tight, turny first set. The Tahoe, Calif. native and three-time Olympic medalist missed a gate high on the course, hiked a few steps to get a shot and a second run, but skied off course near the bottom while pushing it a bit too hard.

The hundreds of fans in attendance never cheered louder than for comeback kid Resi Stiegler, who was competing in her first World Cup in a year after breaking her leg while training in nearby Copper Mountain last November. With a huge smile on her face, an out of breath Stiegler crossed the second-run finish line with a time of 1:50.67 and a 25th-place result. She will now compete in NorAm races in Colorado before taking a much needed week off in Maui, Hawaii.

The broken led was just the latest in a string of injures for the Jackson Hole, Wyo. native. The 25-year-old’s bad luck began in 2007, when she fractured her left arm and tore ligaments in her right knee while competing in Austria. Her return was hampered further when she broke her right leg in late summer of 2008 forcing her to skip all of the 2009 season except the World Championships where she finished an incredible 19th in slalom.

“I love Aspen. It’s one of my favorite hills, for sure. It’s like home pretty much because we don’t get to race in Jackson, but this is good enough for me,” said a smiling Stiegler who had been attempting to race in Aspen for the last three years. “I was debating racing because you know, it has been awhile and this is probably one of the most challenging women’s courses,so I was a little nervous. But then I thought about it and I haven’t raced really–that’s the most I’ve done in three years, today, so it’s time to just start racing.”

Fellow Americans Sarah Schleper and Hailey Duke missed the second run finishing with the 33rd and 37th fastest first run times. Laurenne Ross hooked the first gate to end the her day early.

Canadian Marie-Michele Gagnon had an impressive day, ending up in 15th place in bib number 35. The 21-year-old’s second run held the lead through the following ten racers. Teammates Eve Routhier and Anna Goodman joined Gagnon in the points finishing 19th and 23rd, respectively.

“I am really excited for our team to have three in the top 30,” said Gagnon. “We are really skiing well and are going to be a really good team for a long time.” 

The blazing German women’s team (seven top-five results in the first three World Cup races) put six racers into the second run, but their hot streak cooled somewhat in the second run when Susanne Riesch fell in the middle of he course. Fanny Chemlar, who had the fifth-fastest first run time, slid to llth place after losing time in the technical lower section of the course set by German coach Christian Schwaiger.  

The women’s World Cup now moves to Lake Lousie, Canada to kick of the speed season with a pair of downhills and a super G Dec. 3-5.

Images by Gepa

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women’s World Cup slalom, Aspen, Colo., Nov. 28, 2010
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Pietilae-Holmner, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol   
2 Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
3 Poutiainen, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4 Zuzulova, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
5 Hosp, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
6 Noens, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
7 Borssen, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
8 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
9 Hansdotter, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
10 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic

Women’s World Cup slalom, Aspen, Colo., Nov. 28, 2010. … It is the fourth of 37 races on the women’s 2010-2011 World Cup schedule and second of ten scheduled slaloms. … It is the 66th World Cup race hosted by Aspen and the 18th slalom. … the 12th women’s slalom. Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic has won the last two slaloms held at Aspen. … her only two Cup victories.

It is the first career World Cup win for Maria Pietilae-Holmner. … Her only other podium came at Levi in slalom Nov. 15, 2008. … Three of her best four results have come at Aspen, the other two in GS. … She has recorded five top five finishes at Aspen.

It is the 44th career World Cup podium for Maria Riesch and second of the season. … It is her 16th slalom podium and second of the season. … It is her first career podium at Aspen.

It is the 40th career World Cup podium for Tanja Poutiainen. … Her 21st in slalom. … and her eighth Cup podium at Aspen. … fifth in slalom. … It is her second podium of the season, both in slalom.

It is the 15th career World Cup slalom top 10 for Lindsey Vonn. … her second at Aspen having placed fourth in the Aspen slalom Nov. 30, 2008. … It is the fifth best of eight career scoring results for Marie-Michele Gagnon. … and her third best slalom result. … It is her third score of the season and second best after a 13th in the Soelden GS Oct. 23. … It is the first career World Cup score for Eve Routhier in her fifth career start. … Anna Goodman matches her ninth best of 13 career scoring results. … Her second best at Aspen having placed 13th in the slalom a season ago. … It is the first World Cup score for Resi Stiegler since she placed eighth at Aspen in slalom Dec. 9, 2007.

Riesch leads the World Cup overall standings 234-196 over Poutiainen. … Viktoria Rebensburg (did not race) is third at 180. … Vonn leads the Americans in 11th with 85pts. … Gagnon the Canadians in 20th with 51pts. … Germany leads the women’s Nations Cup 758-537 over Austria. … Sweden is third
with 309pts. … The U.S. sits seventh with 170pts and Canada 10th with 71pts.

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Run 1	Run 2	Total Time	FIS Points
1	8	505760	PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria	1986	SWE	53.86	52.33	1:46.19	0.00
2	4	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	54.50	52.37	1:46.87	3.91
3	3	185140	POUTIAINEN Tanja	1980	FIN	54.06	53.06	1:47.12	5.34
4	25	705287	ZUZULOVA Veronika	1984	SVK	54.36	52.84	1:47.20	5.80
5	15	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT	53.95	53.30	1:47.25	6.09
6	22	196806	NOENS Nastasia	1988	FRA	54.64	52.80	1:47.44	7.18
7	24	505610	BORSSEN Therese	1984	SWE	54.94	52.55	1:47.49	7.47
8	10	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	54.93	52.70	1:47.63	8.27
9	20	505679	HANSDOTTER Frida	1985	SWE	55.17	52.55	1:47.72	8.79
10	5	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	54.00	53.76	1:47.76	9.02
11	9	206035	CHMELAR Fanny	1985	GER	54.26	53.59	1:47.85	9.54
12	6	155415	ZAHROBSKA Sarka	1985	CZE	54.64	53.42	1:48.06	10.74
13	18	205993	HOELZL Kathrin	1984	GER	55.12	53.54	1:48.66	14.19
14	2	195972	AUBERT Sandrine	1982	FRA	55.05	53.90	1:48.95	15.85
15	35	105269	GAGNON Marie-Michele	1989	CAN	56.32	52.91	1:49.23	17.46
16	17	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	56.10	53.33	1:49.43	18.61
17	19	295435	GIUS Nicole	1980	ITA	56.23	53.57	1:49.80	20.74
18	50	516280	HOLDENER Wendy	1993	SUI	56.91	52.96	1:49.87	21.14
19	39	105615	ROUTHIER Eve	1988	CAN	57.29	52.81	1:50.10	22.46
20	13	205168	DUERR Katharina	1989	GER	55.80	54.35	1:50.15	22.75
21	48	55807	DAUM Alexandra	1986	AUT	56.28	53.91	1:50.19	22.98
21	32	515997	FEIERABEND Denise	1989	SUI	56.84	53.35	1:50.19	22.98
23	27	106633	GOODMAN Anna	1986	CAN	56.61	53.90	1:50.51	24.82
24	16	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	56.37	54.17	1:50.54	24.99
25	34	537772	STIEGLER Resi	1985	USA	56.77	53.90	1:50.67	25.74
26	38	296509	CURTONI Irene	1985	ITA	55.87	54.99	1:50.86	26.83
27	44	205239	WIRTH Barbara	1989	GER	57.15	53.79	1:50.94	27.29
Did not start 1st run
	36	206290	HUEBNER Monica	1990	GER
Did not qualify 1st run
	72	35089	SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena	1984	ARG
	71	35079	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	1982	ARG
	70	415128	JARVIS Sarah	1986	NZE
	69	485665	KEDRINA Anastasia	1992	RUS
	66	55806	ALTACHER Margret	1986	AUT
	64	155194	KURFUERSTOVA Eva	1977	CZE
	63	206174	STABER Veronika	1987	GER
	61	505908	SMEDH Veronica	1988	SWE
	58	297601	BRIGNONE Federica	1990	ITA
	57	305962	HANAOKA Moe	1984	JPN
	56	206355	DUERR Lena	1991	GER
	55	196725	BARIOZ Taina	1988	FRA
	53	515855	GOOD Esther	1987	SUI
	52	196179	BERTRAND Marion	1984	FRA
	51	196928	WORLEY Tessa	1989	FRA
	49	537792	DUKE Hailey	1985	USA
	46	196726	BARTHET Anne-Sophie	1988	FRA
	45	106961	MIELZYNSKI Erin	1990	CAN
	43	515733	BONJOUR Aline	1985	SUI
	41	107068	PHELAN Brittany	1991	CAN
	37	56032	SCHILD Bernadette	1990	AUT
	33	515619	GINI Sandra	1982	SUI
	29	565320	FERK Marusa	1988	SLO
	28	536481	SCHLEPER Sarah	1979	USA
Did not finish 2nd run
	30	196793	MARMOTTAN Anemone	1988	FRA
	23	185271	LEINONEN Sanni	1989	FIN
	7	206160	RIESCH Susanne	1987	GER
Did not finish 1st run
	68	305944	KIYOSAWA Emiko	1983	JPN
	67	705305	HUCKOVA Eva	1986	SVK
	65	107044	IRWIN Madison	1991	CAN
	62	565323	JAZBEC Katja	1988	SLO
	60	425880	SEJERSTED Lotte Smiseth	1991	NOR
	59	538573	ROSS Laurenne	1988	USA
	54	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI
	47	355040	NIGG Marina	1984	LIE
	42	538284	MCJAMES Megan	1987	USA
	40	196016	DAUTHERIVES Claire	1982	FRA
	31	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA
	26	296354	COSTAZZA Chiara	1984	ITA
	21	55759	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1985	AUT
	14	296259	MOELGG Manuela	1983	ITA
	12	206279	GEIGER Christina	1990	GER
	11	385032	JELUSIC Ana	1986	CRO
	1	55590	SCHILD Marlies	1981	AUT