Slalom in Courchevel Holdener crashes and misses the podium - Rast (5th) best Swiss racer

Linus Hämmerli

30.1.2025

Wendy Holdener cannot confirm her strong first run in Courchevel.
Wendy Holdener cannot confirm her strong first run in Courchevel.
KEYSTONE

Zrinka Ljutic takes her third win of the season in the World Cup slalom in Courchevel. The Croatian comes out on top ahead of Sara Hector and Lena Dürr. Wendy Holdener, second after the first run, is eliminated, with Camille Rast in fifth place and Melanie Meillard in seventh.

Ljutic, who turned 21 four days earlier, took her third victory after Semmering and Kranjska Gora. She left the competition far behind, with second-placed Swede Hector already 1.26 seconds behind.

Switzerland achieved two top 10 places thanks to discipline leader Camille Rast (5th) and Mélanie Meillard (7th). The two athletes thus continued their impressive series: two-time season winner Rast has finished in the top 5 in all seven slaloms this winter, while Meillard has always finished in the top 10.

There was disappointment for Wendy Holdener, who had only lost 19 hundredths to Ljutic in the first run. The 31-year-old crashed in the second run before the first intermediate time. It was her first retirement this winter.

Shiffrin clearly misses the podium on her comeback

Mikaela Shiffrin's much-noticed comeback was only half successful for the American. It was obvious that the 29-year-old has not yet fully recovered from the serious injury she sustained at the end of November. Shiffrin lost five places in the second run and finished in 10th place. First and foremost, however, she should be happy to have gained some racing practice before the upcoming World Championships.

With Aline Höpli (20th) and Eliane Christen (25th), two other Swiss women finished in the World Cup points - both for the third time this winter. Höpli was denied a bigger leap forward because she made a time-consuming mistake in the final sector after strong intermediate times. This makes the 23-year-old the fifth-best Swiss slalom racer behind Christen and she is unlikely to make it to the World Championships.

The World Championships in Saalbach, Austria, begin next Tuesday, February 4. After the highlight of the season, there are three more slaloms on the World Cup program: Sestriere, Are and Sun Valley.

  • Liveticker
    New posts
  • Liveticker closed