The Swiss shone once again in the slalom World Cup on Sunday in Kranjska Gora, even if victory went to Croatian Zrinka Ljutic. Wendy Holdener ranked 2nd (at 0’16), Camille Rast 4th and Mélanie Meillard 5th.
IMAGO/Pixsell
Tied for the lead with Zrinka Ljutic after the opening round, Wendy Holdener had the chance to start before the Croatian in the afternoon. And she knew how to let the horses go, setting the best time on the second course to take control with a margin of 1”03 over the Swede Anna Swenn Larsson.
But Zrinka Ljutic (20 years old) did not give up. Precise and aggressive, she won with a 0”16 lead over the Schwyzoise to collect her second success in a row in the slalom World Cup after her triumph in Semmering, where she had become the first a week earlier Croatian to win on the White Circus since the legend Janica Kostelic (last success in March 2006).
The regularity of Rast and Meillard
Zrinka Ljutic also did the very good thing of the day since she took 1st place in the general classification and that of the slalom. Leader of the discipline before this race, Camille Rast is however only 4 points behind in the slalom World Cup. Fourth, 0”17 from the podium, the Valaisanne finished the five slaloms of the season in the top 5.
Mélanie Meillard also displays more than pleasing consistency, even if she will still have to wait before achieving a first top 3 in a classic discipline. The skier from Hérémence has five top 10s in her 2024/25 slalom rankings, which puts her in 8th place in the discipline rankings.
Gisin far from the mark
Four other Swiss women finished in the top 30. Eliane Christen and Janine Mächler, who had scored their first points at this level in Semmering a week earlier, confirmed this by ranking 15th and 21st respectively. Elena Stoffel, for her part, unlocked her 2024/25 counter by taking 18th place.
For Michelle Gisin, however, this weekend will be one to forget as quickly as possible. The Obwalden, modest 26th on Saturday in the giant, finished 28th in the slalom after having set the 16th time in the first round. The “break” she gave herself by skipping the Semmering events did not seem to be enough to recharge her batteries.
