Lara Gut-Behrami did not hold the shock in the 2nd round of the 2nd giant of Semmering. In the lead after the first round, the Ticino woman was beaten by Mikaela Shiffrin to finish 2nd. She fails 0”10 from the American, already victorious the day before.
The 2021 world champion in the discipline must certainly be frustrated. Hit in the right wrist during the morning round, guilty of a big fault in the wall on the second track, she narrowly missed the victory.
Gut-Behrami will nevertheless be satisfied with this podium, obtained 14 years after his first time on the “box” in the discipline, at Semmering already (3rd). It allows him to keep 3rd place in the giant ranking, 48 points behind the leader Marta Bassino (3rd).
Shiffrin, who was 0.22 behind the Ticino woman at the end of the first round, made the hole in the general standings. This 79th victory in the World Cup – the 5th of the season and the 3rd in a row – gives him a mattress of 305 units on his runner-up Sofia Goggia, absent at Semmering.
Holdener 15e
Like Tuesday, Gut-Behrami is the only Swiss to feature in the top-10. Michelle Gisin, who had obtained an encouraging 12th place the day before, failed in a very disappointing 26th place. Second to set off on the second course, the Obwalden did not even manage to take advantage of the good conditions to raise the bar.
Wendy Holdener, 23rd on Tuesday, did better 24 hours later to finish 15th. The Schwyzoise especially hopes to shine on Thursday in Semmering, where she will aim for a third consecutive success in slalom. In this giant, she was 0”08 ahead of Andrea Ellenberger (16th), who won 7 places after the second run.
Three other Swiss women were able to score points, but without shining: Simone Wild ranked 23rd, Camille Rast 27th and Corinne Suter 28th. Albanian Lora Colturi (16) however proved that anything was possible in the second round, moving up from 30th to 20th place.
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