Jansrud wins on home snow to secure SG globe

By Published On: March 8th, 2015Comments Off on Jansrud wins on home snow to secure SG globe

Kjetil Jansrud isn’t going down without a fight. After a disappointing seventh-place result in the downhill a day earlier, the Norwegian fired back on his home racecourse to pick off a much needed win in Sunday’s super G at Kvitfjell, Norway.

Racing the high-speed, spring-like course set by the French coach Patrice Morisod, Jansrud skirted past Austria’s runner-up, Vincent Kriechmayr, by nearly a quarter-second. And fresh on the heels of a World Championship silver medal in this event, Canada’s Dustin Cook grabbed his first World Cup podium, finishing third.

With the wining time of 1 minute, 37.44 seconds and a 123-point lead in the super G standings, Jansrud secured his first career crystal globe and discipline title. The Attacking Viking got some help from a pair of Austrian DNFs — Hannes Reichelt and Matthias Mayer, both of whom had threatened the super G standings but faltered in the same pesky section early in their runs. They joined fellow super G contender Adrien Theaux as just a few of the 21 skiers who failed to finish Sunday’s race.

“Everyone expected me to secure both globes here in Kvitfjell,” Jansrud said after the race. “That didn’t happen yesterday with the downhill. I was a little disappointed. That’s part of the game. I wasn’t angry or anything. Grabbing the win today is good for my confidence. I know I can win races again — it’s been tough the last few weeks.”

Knowing his top challengers in the super G standings were heading home with a goose egg, Jansrud skied a high, clean, early line throughout his run. He fell to as much as a quarter-second deficit at the last split but charged the final section to cross the finish with a comfortable margin of victory.

With the win, Jansrud will have some of the pressure lifted heading into World Cup Finals, where he will now be able to focus solely on the downhill title. He currently holds a slim 20-point lead over Reichelt in the discipline.

“This is the first globe of my career,” Jansrud said. “It’s good to not have to go into the final weekend feeling like there are two guys pushing me on the cup and I have to fend off both of them. That’s big because I can leave the super G and focus on the downhill.”

With a 52-point deficit to Marcel Hirscher — and a pair of tech races set for Kranjska Gora next weekend — Jansrud is first to admit the numbers are not looking good in the overall. Hirscher is confident in his current standing, having opted to skip the super G in Norway and instead remain home where he can polish up his already stellar GS and slalom skiing. Objectively, it will require a major error or DNF — maybe two — on the part of the Austrian for Jansrud to have a fighting chance.

“Hirscher is still leading and I think he will gain some extra points in Kranjska Gora, so I’m not very concerned about the overall,” said Jansrud. “I think he’ll pull through. But it might get exciting. He has no room for error and anything can happen. I’ll keep on fighting and we’ll see. I’ll concentrate on the downhill globe and try to ski giant slalom in Kranjska Gora as fast as I can.”

Meanwhile, Dustin Cook is catching fire in super G. On his way to the podium result, the Canadian had to fight through several serious mistakes to complete his run, most notably getting twisted up over the Lift not far from the finish.

“I got a little lucky with the draw starting early,” said Cook. “I definitely was on the limit and maybe a little over the limit on the bottom here. That definitely cost me a lot of time. But I think it was good skiing. I’m super psyched obviously.”

The result comes a day after his teammate Manny Osborne-Paradis claimed a podium in the downhill. Asked if he wishes the season would just keep going now that he’s found his form, Cook said he’s got four more races in him and then he’s going to the beach. “I’m really happy with how the season went,” he said.

For the Americans, Andrew Weibrecht, in fifth, matched his career-best World Cup result from Kitzbuehel earlier this season. Weibrecht skied a controlled yet aggressive line — clean through most of the course but got into trouble over the Lift — as did many other racers.

“I don’t feel like I skied my best, but I did ski solid,” said Weibrecht. “It’s just really tough. The snow is really soft. If you’re offline at all, then you get nothing back from your skis. That makes it really tricky. It’s not an easy race, took a lot of tactics. I’m pretty satisfied.”

Jared Goldberg and Travis Ganong were the next best American finishers in 23rd and 24th, respectively. They were followed by Marco Sullivan, 26th, who cracked the top 30 for the first time in super G since Lake Louise in 2011. Bryce Bennett and Steven Nyman did not finish.

The men’s World Cup tour heads to Kranjska Gora for GS and slalom races March 14-15.

 

The Scoop

By Hank McKee

1 Jansrud, Head/Head/Head

2 Kriechmayr, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer

3 Cook, Head/Head/Head

4 Paris, Nordica/Nordica/Marker

5 Weibrecht, Head/Head/Head

6 Baumann, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

7 Kueng, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

8 Janka, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

8 Franz, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

10 Defago, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol

Men’s World Cup super G, Kvitfjell, Norway, March 8, 2015:

  • It is the 30th of 38 races on the men’s World Cup calendar … the sixth of seven scheduled super G’s. … It is the 57th World Cup race held, at least in part, at Kvitfjell … the 23rd super G. … Norwegians have won the last three super G’s held at their home mountain: Jansrud in 2012 and2014 and Svindal in 2013.
  • Nearly a third of the field fails to finish.
  • Kjetil Jansrud makes it four straight SG wins at Kvitfjell for Norway. … It is his ninth career World Cup win, his fifth in super G and his third in super G at  Kvitfjell. … It is his sixth win of the season and first since claiming the Hahnenkamm downhill Jan. 24. The winning margin is 0.24 of a second. … Top ten finishers are within the same second.
  • It is the first career World Cup podium placing for Vincent Kriechmayr … his previous best had been fourth in super G at Val Gardena in December. … He had been fifth in super G at Kvitfjell last season.
  • It is the first World Cup podium for Dustin Cook, though he did earn a silver medal in super G at World Championships in February. … It is the second Canadian World Cup podium at Kvitfjll this season after Manuel Osborne-Paradis’s second-place finish in the downhill March 7.
  • Andrew Weibrecht matches his career best World Cup result, matching his super G finish at Kitzbuehel Jan. 23. … It is the fifth best World Cup finish of the season for Manuel Osborne-Paradis … second best super G finish. … It is a career best World Cup super G finish for Jared Goldberg. … The eighth best SG finish for Travis Ganong. … It is the 14th best career World Cup SG finish for Marco Sullivan.
  • Marcel Hirscher (did not race) maintains control of the World Cup overall standings 1128-1076 over Kjetil Jansrud. … Alexis Pinturault (14th in race) is third overall with 762pts. … Ted Ligety (did not race) is the top U.S. skier in 10th with 470pts.
  • Jansrud leads the super G standings 476-353 over Dominik Paris (fourth in race) with one race remaining and cannot be beaten for the title. … Matthias Mayer is third in the super G standings with 274pts. … Andrew Weibrecht is ninth with 151pts and Dustin Cook 12th with 139pts.

 

Results

 1  19  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR  1:37.44  0.00
 2  5  53980 KRIECHMAYR Vincent 1991 AUT  1:37.68  +0.24  2.66
 3  8  100558 COOK Dustin 1989 CAN  1:37.77  +0.33  3.66
 4  21  291459 PARIS Dominik 1989 ITA  1:37.92  +0.48  5.32
 5  10  530939 WEIBRECHT Andrew 1986 USA  1:37.93  +0.49  5.43
 6  29  51215 BAUMANN Romed 1986 AUT  1:37.97  +0.53  5.87
 7  13  511139 KUENG Patrick 1984 SUI  1:38.08  +0.64  7.09
 8  15  511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI  1:38.30  +0.86  9.53
 8  14  53817 FRANZ Max 1989 AUT  1:38.30  +0.86  9.53
 10  20  510727 DEFAGO Didier 1977 SUI  1:38.33  +0.89  9.86
 11  3  194190 ROGER Brice 1990 FRA  1:38.44  +1.00  11.08
 12  23  511513 CAVIEZEL Mauro 1988 SUI  1:38.59  +1.15  12.75
 13  7  192504 MERMILLOD BLONDIN Thomas 1984 FRA  1:38.62  +1.18  13.08
 14  12  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  1:38.83  +1.39  15.41
 15  34  511638 TUMLER Thomas 1989 SUI  1:38.95  +1.51  16.74
 16  28  511383 FEUZ Beat 1987 SUI  1:38.96  +1.52  16.85
 17  6  51327 PUCHNER Joachim 1987 AUT  1:38.98  +1.54  17.07
 18  24  102899 OSBORNE-PARADIS Manuel 1984 CAN  1:39.21  +1.77  19.62
 19  37  990081 CASSE Mattia 1990 ITA  1:39.31  +1.87  20.73
 20  45  561216 KLINE Bostjan 1991 SLO  1:39.32  +1.88  20.84
 21  55  192932 FAYED Guillermo 1985 FRA  1:39.36  +1.92  21.28
 22  40  200379 SANDER Andreas 1989 GER  1:39.37  +1.93  21.39
 23  39  934643 GOLDBERG Jared 1991 USA  1:39.39  +1.95  21.61
 24  26  530874 GANONG Travis 1988 USA  1:39.52  +2.08  23.05
 25  38  511808 SCHMED Fernando 1991 SUI  1:39.56  +2.12  23.50
 26  53  533131 SULLIVAN Marco 1980 USA  1:39.58  +2.14  23.72
 27  32  53933 SCHWEIGER Patrick 1990 AUT  1:39.67  +2.23  24.72
 28  47  422073 NETELAND Bjoernar 1991 NOR  1:39.69  +2.25  24.94
 29  35  51332 SCHEIBER Florian 1987 AUT  1:39.70  +2.26  25.05
 30  41  511847 MANI Nils 1992 SUI  1:39.86  +2.42  26.82
 31  50  103271 THOMSEN Benjamin 1987 CAN  1:40.01  +2.57  28.49
 32  27  561217 KOSI Klemen 1991 SLO  1:40.07  +2.63  29.15
 33  42  380292 ZRNCIC-DIM Natko 1986 CRO  1:40.19  +2.75  30.48
 34  58  194167 MUZATON Maxence 1990 FRA  1:40.24  +2.80  31.03
 35  31  202059 FERSTL Josef 1988 GER  1:40.49  +3.05  33.81
 36  44  194542 GIRAUD MOINE Valentin 1992 FRA  1:40.52  +3.08  34.14
 37  51  481705 GLEBOV Alexander 1983 RUS  1:40.88  +3.44  38.13
 38  52  510890 ZURBRIGGEN Silvan 1981 SUI  1:41.41  +3.97  44.00
Did not finish 1st run
 59  170131 FAARUP Christoffer 1992 DAN
 57  20324 OLIVERAS Marc 1991 AND
 56  104096 THOMPSON Broderick 1994 CAN
 54  294277 KLOTZ Siegmar 1987 ITA
 49  6530104 BENNETT Bryce 1992 USA
 48  561067 PERKO Rok 1985 SLO
 46  511981 WEBER Ralph 1993 SUI
 43  501987 MONSEN Felix 1994 SWE
 36  6291029 BATTILANI Henri 1994 ITA
 33  202196 BRANDNER Klaus 1990 GER
 30  292455 FILL Peter 1982 ITA
 25  533866 NYMAN Steven 1982 USA
 22  50858 STREITBERGER Georg 1981 AUT
 18  53902 MAYER Matthias 1990 AUT
 17  50742 REICHELT Hannes 1980 AUT
 16  192746 THEAUX Adrien 1984 FRA
 11  54005 STRIEDINGER Otmar 1991 AUT
 9  293550 MARSAGLIA Matteo 1985 ITA
 4  292514 HEEL Werner 1982 ITA
 2  103612 PRIDY Morgan 1990 CAN
 1  191740 CLAREY Johan 1981 FRA

 

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About the Author: Geoff Mintz

Geoff Mintz is a former alpine ski racer who cut his teeth at Ragged Mountain and Waterville Valley, N.H. After graduating from Holderness and UVM, he relocated to Colorado, where he worked on the hill prior to pursuing a career in journalism. Mintz served as associate editor for Ski Racing Media from 2011 to 2015. He later reconnected with his local roots to manage all marketing and communications for Ski & Snowboard Club Vail before resuming work at SRM as editor-in-chief.