(Crans-Montana) The Italian Marta Bassino used all her technical skills to dominate the Crans-Montana downhill on Saturday counting for the Women’s Alpine Skiing World Cup.
Bassino, a giant slalom specialist who won the super-G world title last year, negotiated the Mount Lachau track in one minute 26.84 seconds, en route to the first downhill victory of her career.
Bassino beat her compatriot Federica Brignone by 54 hundredths of a second. The Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami, victorious in the downhill held Friday at the same location, completed the podium 1.11 seconds behind the winner.
With this third place, Gut-Behrami increased her lead over inactive American Mikaela Shiffrin to 165 points at the top of the overall World Cup standings.
Shiffrin is bothered by a left knee injury and everything indicates that she will not return to the circuit until the second weekend of March to take part in a giant slalom and a slalom in Sweden.
No Canadian women participated in the competition.