Third time still a charm for Hirscher in Val d’Isere

Marcel Hirscher stood alone in the start hut before kicking out for his second run down La Face de Bellvarde. After looking out across a postcard-worthy backdrop, the Austrian charged down the steep, technical slope in Val d’Isere, France, en route to his 16th career giant slalom victory and third in row at the venue. The victory was by a commanding margin, 1.29 seconds over Germany’s Felix Neureuther in second and France’s Victor Muffat-Jeandet in third, 1.58 seconds off the pace.

Hirscher’s latest win leaves him tied with Annemarie Moser-Proell for most giant slalom victories ever for an Austrian. And with the way his form has been of late, don’t be surprised if a lone Austrian ascends to the top of that list before season’s end.

For Hirscher, Val d’Isere holds a special place in his heart. It is the site of his first ever World Cup victory at the GS in 2009, and then one year later, he claimed his first slalom win at the venue. With today’s victory on the track, Hirscher solidified his dominance on one of the toughest GS hills on the World Cup circuit.

“What makes it special is definitely the terrain. It is for me the toughest GS in the whole season,” he said of the challenging slope. “Physically, it is as well really hard to stay on the line during all the gates. For me, I won here my first GS race, my first slalom race, so it is not too bad in general to be here.”

An abrupt piece of terrain approximately 15 seconds into the second run caught many racers by surprise and led to rather spectacular crashes by French ace Thomas Fanara and Norwegian Henrik Kristofferson. Kristoffersen sat second after the first run, just 0.14 seconds behind Hirscher, but the young gun failed to complete the second run after spinning out. Knowing his rival had crashed in this crucial section didn’t faze Hirscher, who managed to pass without noticeable distress.

“I had problems at the jump but sometimes I think everyone has to find his personal line and everyone is searching for different opportunities to pass this tricky section,” he said.

Neureuther, who continues to struggle with back issues, was content with his runner-up finish but felt he could have closed the gap if not for an ill-timed error early in his second run.

“Tough race, tough conditions, second place for me is perfect,” he said in the finish. “I had the feeling that it was good, but that it could have been better because my top section wasn’t that good. I didn’t push and I had quite a big mistake, so I thought there was a lot of time in it. Marcel showed what’s in there.”

Muffat-Jeandet’s second trip to the GS podium this season after a second place last week in Beaver Creek was all the more special in his home nation of France.

“Everything went really fast since Beaver Creek, it was my first giant slalom podium,” Muffat-Jeandet explained. “Today I claim one more in my home country. I don’t completely realize what it means yet, but I’m very happy and satisfied to see that all the hard work pays off. The course and the snow in Beaver Creek are completely different, so I’m happy I could finish on the podium here.”

Muffat-Jeandet saw how much trouble that abrupt terrain in the second run was causing those who ran before him, and he was able to make the right adjustments for his run.

“I like to watch the other athletes. I watched the first 15 today, so I saw that there was a pretty big jump,” he said. “But I tried to focus on my run, to rely on what we discussed during the inspection, but the jump was not easy to manage.”

After his two maiden World Cup podiums in back-to-back weekends, Muffat-Jeandet isn’t planning to bask in his accomplishments. He has very clear goals for the remainder of the season.

“It’s very encouraging and motivating to earn a podium, but every race is different and I need to keep pushing. There is still a step on the podium I’ve never been on,” he noted.

Disappointment was the mood of the day for the American contingent, with the U.S. men failing to qualify a single athlete for the second run. Head men’s coach Sasha Rearick summed up the day in a somber, yet optimistic, way following the disastrous first run.

“Very, very disappointing first run here in Val d’Isere. We over-skied and skied way too defensive,” he explained. “Snow was amazing, good course set, easy, and we just gave this thing way too much respect. The key now is to learn from this, evaluate our travel over here, our setup coming into Val d’Isere, also what to expect on this hill now. We have to change our approach to what we do on this hill. On days like this you can actually do a lot of work and make a lot of progress and I look forward to meeting with the coaches, meeting with the athletes and putting forward a game-plan for the future in Val d’Isere GS, but also looking forward to tomorrow’s slalom.”

For Ted Ligety, his first run could be summed up by one word: awkward. Ligety never seemed to find his usual groove and appeared to be fighting the hill and the set the from moment he pushed out of the starting gate. Crossing the line over two seconds behind Hirscher certainly wasn’t what he was looking for, but the American may have jinxed his chances before the race started.

“Ted was upset about the start time – 9:30 start time where the top part is in the sun and the bottom part is in the shade. … I think he never got his mind of off that,” Rearick explained. “That dragged me into playing that game too and I’m disappointed in myself that I didn’t just put that to bed right away. Those kinds of things are out of your control, and we should know better than to let ourselves fall into that trap.”

The lone North American finisher was Canadian Trevor Philp, who recorded a career-best 18th place from the 43rd start position.

Not to worry for the Americans, as tomorrow offers a shot at redemption with the slalom. First run is set to begin at 9:30am CET with streaming available on NBC Live Extra.

To view more photos from this race click here. 

Fans can stay current on the World Cup circuit by downloading the new U.S. Ski Team iOS app powered by Ski Racing here. 

The Scoop
By Hank McKee

1 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
2 Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Nordica
3 Muffat-Jeandet, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
4 Feller, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Sandell, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Borsotti, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
7 Luitz, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Missillier, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
8 Nani, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
10 Faivre, Head/Head/Head

• Men’s World Cup giant slalom, Val d’Isere, France, Dec. 12, 2015. … It is the seventh of 45 races on the men’s schedule … the third of 10 scheduled GSs, with the next set for Jan. 9 at Adelboden. … It is the 166^th World Cup race hosted by Val d’Isere …the 45^th GS. … Marcel Hirscher won the last two GSs at the site.
• It is the 34^th career World Cup win for Marcel Hirscher … his third of the season. … It is his 16th career GS win and second of the season. … He is the all-time leader among Austrian men for GS wins and matches Ann-Marie Moser-Proell for all-time in his nation. … It is the fifth time he has won a World Cup GS at Val d’Isere, including the last three straight, Dec. 9, 2012, Dec. 14, 2013, and today.
• It is the 38^th career World Cup podium for Felix Neureuther … his fifth in GS. …. It is his first of the season and second career podium at Val d’Isere.
• It is the third career World Cup podium for Victor Muffat-Jeandet and second of the season, both in GS.
• The result is a career best for Trevor Philp, topping a 19^th at Alta Badia last season.
• Hirscher leads the World Cup overall standings with 360 points to 317 for Aksel Lund Svindal (did not race). … Ted Ligety (DNQ 2^nd) is third with 180.
• Hirscher leads the GS standings 260-166 over Muffat-Jeandet with Neureuther in third at 165 and Ligety tied for fourth with 100pts.
• Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 1159-837 over Italy. France is third with 735pts. The U.S. is fifth at 586 and Canada eighth with 139pts.

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