Camille Rast won the floodlight spectacle in Flachau. The DSV slalom specialists Lena Dürr and Emma Aicher missed the tangible podium. But we were able to get a place in the top ten
The noble technicians gained new confidence at the penultimate World Cup slalom before the World Championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm (February 4th to 16th). The Swiss Camille Rast treated herself to the full dose, cheekily shaking up the field from behind in the final and snatching victory ahead of her teammate Wendy Holdener and the Swede Sara Hector.
Dürr and Aicher ready for the jump onto the podium
On the Hermann Maier World Cup course in Flachau, Lena Dürr was in a promising fourth place after an elegant ride through the bars. According to the timing, only seven hundredths separated them from the podium in the first run. Emma Aicher also had good cards in sixth place.
As the hunted, Katharina Liensberger had to keep her nerve in the decisive second run. The Austrian skied through the snow in the best time in the first round and clearly relegated Wendy Holdener (Switzerland/+0.75 s) and Sara Hector (Sweden/+0.94 s) to second and third place. Shooting star Zrinka Ljutic, however, didn’t have a good day after two victories and had to say goodbye to the next podium ambitions and round two after big mistakes.
Katharina Liensberger is in the lead.
Rast surprises in the “Finale Furioso”
However, it was not the German drivers who made the surprise jump onto the podium, but Camille Rast. The Swiss drove from eighth place to victory. Teammate Wendy Holdener secured second place. Sara Hector took third place. Liensberger slipped to fourth place after a shaky run.
Aicher ahead of Dürr in the top ten
Emma Aicher didn’t want to get bogged down in the fight for the podium, she wanted to do one thing above all else – get through. After a few eliminations, she didn’t give full attack and slipped a few places. In the end it was still a top 8 result for the 21-year-old.
Dürr was also unable to intervene in the fight for the top positions. After her slow ride, the Bavarian even had to finish tenth behind her teammate Aicher.
Hilzinger misses the second round
Jessica Hilzinger – who entered the race late with a high starting number – rode a bit too passively overall and was four and a half seconds slower than the fastest at half time, Katharina Liensberger. So she clearly missed the final run. Roni Remme was eliminated early.
Dürr can be on the podium, Aicher needs consistency
The 33-year-old has already shown that Dürr can reach the podium this season in Levi (3rd place) and Semmering (2nd place). In the first slalom of the new year in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, she was eliminated early in the first run.
Aicher went into the final in a promising fifth place, but then gave up and was also eliminated. Shooting star Zrinka Ljutic won again. However, the Croatian was unable to shine in Flachau.