(Crans-Montana) Downhill specialist Stephanie Venier won a World Cup super-G for the first time in her career on Sunday.
This gave new impetus to the battle for the title of the discipline, as leader Lara Gut-Behrami placed sixth.
In a close race on the sunny Mont Lachaux course, the Austrian beat Italians Federica Brignone by 0.04 seconds and Marta Bassino by 0.15.
Venier obtained a third victory in total, a day after Bassino and Brignone signed a double in a descent, on the same course.
Venier bounced back from disappointing results in two recent runs, when she placed 10 respectivelye and 17e.
“The skiing was good. I made some mistakes, but I’m very happy now, Venier said. The last few days haven’t been easy for me, with all the pressure. I had nothing to lose and I handled it well, I think. »
Venier took the lead in the middle right section, where she found a better line than her rivals and picked up speed, heading into the twisty final stretch.
Venier’s previous victories came in downhill in Germany in 2019 and in Italy last month – in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Mikaela Shiffrin injured her left knee in a fall.
The American plans to return to training next week. However, she probably won’t return until the second weekend for a giant slalom and a slalom, in Sweden.
Shiffrin ceded the overall lead to Gut-Behrami last week. The Swiss star, who won the last two super-Gs and a downhill on Friday, finished sixth on Sunday. She is ahead of the American by 205 points.
“I had some difficulties on this soft snow, it wasn’t the best traction. I just tried to attack, Gut-Behrami said. But in the end, it was a really solid weekend and I’m happy. »
The result set up a tight race to the super-G season title. Gut-Behrami, winner of the globe for the fourth time last season, saw her lead reduced to five points over Cornelia Huetter. The Austrian finished fifth on Sunday.
Brignone and Venier are 100 points or less behind Gut-Behrami, with four more super-G races to go.
The first two will take place in Val di Fassa in Italy next weekend.