Camille Rast won the floodlight spectacle in Flachau. The DSV slalom specialists Lena Dürr and Emma Aicher, on the other hand, missed the podium that was within reach, but were able to achieve 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, 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. 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 drove through the snow in the best time in the first round and clearly relegated Holdener (Switzerland/+0.75 s) and 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”
In the fight for the top places, everything was still possible for the DSV drivers. But it wasn’t Dürr or Aicher who managed the surprise, but Rast. The Swiss drove from eighth place to victory. Teammate Holdener secured second place. Hector took third place. Liensberger slipped to fourth place after a faulty run and spoiled the celebratory mood of her compatriots at their home World Cup.
Aicher happy with top ten result
Aicher, on the other hand, didn’t want to get bogged down in the fight for the podium, but above all wanted to get through. After a few eliminations, most recently in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, when she finished fifth after the first run, she didn’t fully attack and slipped two places as a result. In the end, it was still a strong top 8 result for the 21-year-old. “Not completely satisfied, I am satisfied“says Aicher. The second run”wasn’t perfect, but I’m happy I’m down. Top ten okay!”
Dürr disappointed about missed opportunity
Dürr was also unable to intervene in the fight for the top places. “Oh man, I have something completely different planned up there“, said the visibly disappointed Dürr at the finish line. “If you drive in so hesitantly, nothing will happen. And then you won’t get any faster.“
The 33-year-old had already shown that she can actually reach the podium this season in Levi (3rd place) and Semmering (2nd place). However, in the first slalom of the new year in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, she was eliminated early in the first run.
In Flachau she wanted to show what she could do again. But the Bavarian went to work too cautiously and no longer wound her way through the bars as smoothly as in the first run. The podium was wasted and Dürr 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.