Alpine skiing: Worley earned the RTL crystal at the last second

As on the day before, Katharina Troup was Austria’s best in slalom with a thirteenth place finish (+1.40sec). Brignoni defeated compatriot Marta Pacino (+0.31) and Petra Velhova from Slovakia (+0.37). Brignoni’s 20th victory was at the World Cup, and her eighth in the Giant Slalom.

The battle for the RTL discipline rating turned out to be a real thriller, which was decided only with Shiffrin, the leader at halftime. The World Cup winner in the United States was 0.82 seconds ahead of Brignoni after the first half. A win would have guaranteed Shiffrin Kristal. But with the worst time in the second round, it was back in seventh place (+0.67).

Since Hector, who led the discipline rating five points ahead of Worley before the last RTL, was only 14th (+1.49), Worley was happy in the end. The French advanced from eighth to fourth with an impeccable performance and best running time, winning the small ball by 27 points. Hector, who has been on the top of the podium three times this winter on the RTL and crowned Olympic champion, is back in second place in the special classification.

“I was shivering a lot”

“It was great. I was so nervous at the end. I gave it all up really and then had to wait and shiver downstairs,” Worley said in an interview with ORF, adding, “It’s great to be number one this season. Owning a crystal ball is very different from medals. Basically because I didn’t expect it, the possibility only arose in the last two races. But to be able to do it here in my home in France is very special.”

Shiffrin, who finished third in the discipline rating, was a fair loser: “Of course that’s disappointing. But it’s OK. I had a really great first dose. I thought I could drop it like that again. But in the end I just couldn’t do it as in Round one. But it’s great that Tessa has the ball here in France today and of course the girls on the podium.”

ÖSV women perform better in the final

After a very disappointing first half – Trobe was Austria’s best in 15th – the Austrians put in a better performance in the final. After a solid run, Troupe improved to 13th and once again became the best Austrian. On Saturday, Carinthian was already the 12th fastest ÖSV slalom runner. She was also the only Austrian to take first place in points.

In an interview with ORF, she then said: “After spoiling the first, the second became more active. I tried to collect the last pills, so I was glad number one finally lit up. Those were important points I took with me. That’s how we stop.”

Stephanie Brunner led from 22nd to 17th in the final with the third best time. She commented on her ride in the lower section, “Of course, you have to be better than riding, so I might have the best time to run. So you can see I can be up front.” Junior World Champion Magdalena Egger, who was 23rd in the first half, climbed to 22nd after a solid run and could be satisfied with her first giant slalom at the World Cup.

ÖSV women win the national ranking

For Ramona Seppenhofer, the final in Méribel did not go according to plan. After 12th in Super-G and 13th in the downhill, she had to settle for 20th (+2.58) in the final race of the season on the RTL. Her lead was Katharina Linsberger (+2.22), who again missed a good spot after 13th in the slalom. “It was fun to drive, but nevertheless I know where to start,” said the woman from Vorarlberg. “I will definitely take the positivity with me, I can learn from it and I am looking forward to everything that comes in the new season.”

And Ricarda Hauser, who finished fifth in the ARI, was eliminated in the final after the first round in 22nd place. Even before the final race of the season, it was clear that the ÖSV women would win the Nations Cup. In the end, after 37 individual races and a team competition, the Austrian took the cup with 4,985 points, ahead of Switzerland (4705) and Italy (3,911).