Thomas Tumler produces a very strong run in the first run of the giant slalom in Beaver Creek. The 35-year-old from Graubünden is clearly in the lead, Marco Odermatt is over a second behind in eighth place.
08.12.2024, 18:58
08.12.2024, 19:22
SDA
Tumler has stood on the podium twice in the World Cup giant slalom so far. At the end of last season, he finished third in Saalbach, before that he also took third place in Beaver Creek in 2018. Now the Swiss racer is once again on course for the podium on the Birds of Prey slope, and this time, after a sensational performance, his first World Cup victory even beckons. Tumler leads by 56 hundredths ahead of the Slovenian Zan Kranjec. The Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath is already over a second behind in third place.
From McGrath onwards, the gaps become significantly narrower. Loïc Meillard is 1.13 seconds behind Tumler in 5th place, Marco Odermatt, who was eliminated at the season opener in Sölden, has to settle for 8th place, 1.26 seconds behind. Like many of his competitors, the runner-up in Friday's downhill and winner of Saturday's super-G lost a lot of time in the final section.
Returning skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, competing for Brazil, finished 4th with bib 29, just ahead of Meillard, and the second run is still wide open for Sölden winner Alexander Steen Olsen (6th), Filip Zubcic (7th) and Henrik Kristoffersen (9th).
The other Swiss are even further behind. Gino Caviezel and Fadri Janutin lost over two seconds to Tumler, while Justin Murisier is 3.24 seconds behind and even has to fear for his participation in the second run.
