Marcel Hirscher (Austria) won the spectacular World Cup giant slalom in Adelboden (Switzerland) with a wild ride in the second run. In the classic on the legendary Cheunisbärgli, the record overall World Cup winner won just ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen (Norway/+0.11 seconds) and Alexis Pinturault (France/+0.21). The German ski racers were left empty-handed.
“It was difficult – especially in the second round. It was one of the most difficult Adelboden giant slalom races I was allowed to drive,”Hirscher said. In the steep final slope he had only been able to prevent a fall with great difficulty.
With his 51st birthday. Hirscher left Alberto Tomba (Italy/50) behind him and now has only Hermann Maier (Austria/54) and Ingemar Stenmark (Sweden/86) ahead of him in the eternal leaderboard. In the giant slalom he overtook with his 25th birthday. Victory Ted Ligety (USA/24) and is now alone behind Stenmark (46).
The men of the German Ski Association (DSV) delivered their worst result in a World Cup race for almost four years. Alexander Schmid crashed in the second round – thus, for the first time since the Alpine combination in Kitzbühel in 2014, no German appeared in the final classification of a World Cup competition.
Fritz Dopfer had waived a start. Julian Rauchfuss had already retired in the first run. On Sunday a slalom takes place on the Chuenisbärgli.
The races in Adelboden were temporarily at risk after a landslide caused by hurricane Burglind and heavy rainfall last Thursday had severely damaged the only access road to the town. However, the teams were able to arrive on Friday afternoon via an auxiliary road. Starting Saturday, a trip over the provisionally repaired main line was possible.