Norwegian skier Henrik Kristoffersen won his first men’s World Cup slalom in over a year on Saturday, taking advantage of a mistake by first run leader Tanguy Nef.
Posted at 10:44 a.m.
The little-known Swiss skier, gone 25and and whose career-best result is sixth place, led a World Cup race for the first time.
Nef was seven hundredths faster than Kristoffersen on his first run; in the second, he kept the pace until he straddled a gate shortly before the steep finish section.
Nef’s misadventure earned Kristoffersen his 19and slalom victory.
He had not triumphed since January 2021 in Chamonix, France.
The Swiss Loïc Meillard, one hundredth of a second behind Kristoffersen after the first run, finished second, 14 hundredths.
Third, Manuel Feller was 0.51 seconds behind, followed by his Austrian teammate and three-time Olympic medalist, Johannes Strolz.
Olympic champion Clément Noël left the course in the second run. The Frenchman struggled on soft snow and finished 1.18 seconds off the lead in the first run.
Kristoffersen became the seventh different winner after seven slaloms this season. The battle for the title of the discipline is still wide open with the first seven riders separated by only 39 points.
Three more races remain, including one at the same location on Sunday. A win is worth 100 points.
Norway’s Lucas Braathen, who leads the slalom standings, rode a halfway gate but was already more than eight-tenths off the lead on the first run.
Braathen saw their lead reduced to one point ahead of Kristoffersen, with Meillard now on 10 points and Feller on 12 points.
Alberta’s Erik Read finished 18and.
Dace Ryding, who became Britain’s first World Cup winner by winning the Kitzbühel slalom last month, could do no better than the 20and square.