Holdener second behind superior Liensberger

Wendy Holdener has the chance to get on the podium again during the slalom in Flachau. After the first run, the Swabian is in second place behind the superior Austrian Katharina Liensberger.

Holdener lost 75 hundredths of a second to the unleashed rider from Vorarlberg, only the Swede Sara Hector managed to keep the gap under a second. Mélanie Meillard, who has finished in the top ten in all five Winter World Cup slaloms so far, is also aiming for the podium from fifth place.

Camille Rast, who opened the race under the spotlights in Salzburg, will be a second and a half behind in the second heat. Michelle Gisin, competing in her final World Cup slalom, was almost two and a half seconds slower than Liensberger.

Holdener is aiming for his third podium of the season. In early December in Killington, Vermont, and more recently in Kranjska Gora, she took second place. In Slovenia, the central Swiss only had to admit defeat against Zrinka Ljutic. The Croatian, who also won the Semmering slalom, will not be there this time after a time-consuming error in the upper part of the course.

With her excellent run, Liensberger laid the foundations for the first World Cup victory by an Austrian woman in slalom in almost three years. The latest one was also won by Liensberger, in Are, Sweden, in March 2022.