The Swiss go into the second run of the World Cup giant slalom in Hafjell with a three-way lead. Loïc Meillard leads ahead of Thomas Tumler and discipline leader Marco Odermatt.
15.03.2025, 10:25
15.03.2025, 10:29
SDA
Meillard was eight hundredths faster than Tumler with start number 1. Odermatt, who could secure his second small crystal globe of the season before the World Cup final, lost three tenths of a second on the best time.
Odermatt's first challenger in the battle for the discipline victory, Henrik Kristoffersen, will have to attack in the afternoon to keep the fight for the globe open in the penultimate giant slalom of the winter. The winner of Kranjska Gora lost just under 1.5 seconds to Meillard and is therefore just inside the top 15 after 30 racers.
Kristoffersen is 41 points behind Odermatt in the discipline ranking. If the Norwegian does not improve his position, a 3rd place would be enough for Odermatt to decide the race before the final in Sun Valley. Unless Alexander Steen Olsen finishes ahead of Odermatt.
Steen Olsen is a good six tenths behind Meillard and three tenths behind Odermatt in 6th intermediate place. The closest to the Swiss trio in the first run were Austria's Stefan Brennsteiner (4th/+0.51s) and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (5th/+0.53s), who was competing for Brazil. Luca Aerni just failed to make it into the top 15 with bib number 22.
A Swiss triple victory in the men's giant slalom would be historic: the only one to date dates back to 1983, when Pirmin Zurbriggen won in Adelboden ahead of Max Julen and Jacques Lüthy.
The second run starts at 12.30 pm.
