Sara Hector, new leader of the general classification of the Ski World Cup, won with authority her second success of the season on Saturday, distancing herself by more than a second from her first pursuers during the giant of Kranjska Gora (Slovenia), where the great specialist Lara Gut-Behrami has disappointed again.
After having signed by far the best time in the first round on Saturday morning with bib 4, the 32-year-old Swede confirmed in the second, securing the 3rd time, to win in the end ahead of the Italian Lara Colturi (+1 sec 42/100), who skis for Albania, and New Zealander Alice Robinson (+1.52/100).
Hector, reigning Olympic champion in the discipline, adds to her record a 7th World Cup victory, all in giants, the second of the season after her success during the giant in Killington (United States) at the end of November.
“The track conditions suited me very well today. I worked a lot on the technique, I am very proud”Hector reacted after the race, explaining that he “Relaxed a lot this week” so as not to aggravate a cough that is still present.
Thanks to this success, she takes the lead in the general classification of the World Cup with 407 points, ahead of the Swiss Camille Rast (383 pts) and the Croatian Zrinka Ljutic (356 pts), respectively 8th and 12th in the giant on Saturday.
The Italian Federica Brignone, who made a mistake during the first round and who therefore did not score any points, fell to 4th place in the general classification and ceded the lead in the specialty ranking to Hector.
Gut-Behrami 6e
As in Semmering last weekend, the Austrian Julia Scheib, 3rd in the opening giant in Sölden at the end of October, set the best time in the second round with 37/100th ahead of Hector, but finished at the foot of the podium (4th) after dropping 2 seconds 23/100th on the first track.
-Already second in slalom in Gurgl (Austria) in November, the young Colturi, 18 years old, daughter of the 2002 Olympic super-G champion, Daniela Ceccarelli, continues to impress and wins the second podium of her career.
Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami during the second round of the Kranjska Gora giant (Slovenia), January 4, 2025 / Jure Makovec / AFP
Alice Robinson, 23, already victorious three times in the Giant World Cup, won her third podium this season in the specialty after having already climbed onto the box in Austria in Sölden (2nd) at the end of October and Semmering (3rd) at the end December.
The Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami, who won the specialty globe last year, disappointed again with a 6th place, more than two seconds behind Hector (+2.11).
Not at the start in Sölden and only 13th in Killington then 9th in Semmering, Lara Gut-Behrami is still looking for her first podium this season in a giant.
The Ski World Cup continues on Sunday in Kranjska Gora with a women’s slalom whose first round will start at 10:00 a.m., still without the American Mikaela Shiffrin, still injured, who announced Thursday that she hopes to put on skis again “next week”without giving a date for his return to competition.
