Whereas most of the world's top giant slalom skiers seemed to tire and struggle on the steep final pitch of the Podkoren piste, Austria's Marcel Hirscher just got faster. It was a remarkable display of aggression by the 20-year-old rising star. Hirscher substantially outdistanced his competitors in the second run of Saturday's giant slalom leaping from fifth place, .47 seconds behind, to storm to his second career World Cup victory.

"I think it was perfect," said Hirscher about his second run. "I was in fifth place after the first one and I thought to myself ‘should I race very hard for the victory or should I just make points'. I decided to ski as hard as possible."

Hirscher's second run time of 1:12.91 was seven-tenths faster than Ted Ligety, who was third after run one and Ligety was even the closest to Hirscher of the three other racers who led the Austrian entering the afternoon run.

"It was very special for me because I thought during the run that it was very fast," said Hirscher. "I think it's the fastest run that I've ever made."

Hirscher also praised coaches for passing along critical course information which was especially helpful considering the flat light on the piste.

"Thanks to my coaches because I knew where every hard bump was and at which gate number," said the Austrian winner. "It was sometimes simple to know where these bumps were and let the skis so."

Norway's Kjetil Jansrud was the first run leader, entering the afternoon .11 seconds ahead of Italy's Massimiliano Blardone and .47 ahead of Hirscher in fifth.

Blardone dropped time significantly throughout his second run, eventually falling to fourth and missing a podium by .38. Jansrud started well and it appeared that he was on his way to a first career victory, but the Norwegian struggled on the lower section and final pitch costing him the win.

Hirscher's two-run time of 2:31.30 was .45 seconds better than Jansrud and .58 ahead of Ligety who finished third.

"It's crazy to see how his skiing has evolved from being a slalom skier a few years ago to being an even better GS skier now," said Ligety about the young Austrian. "He has phenomenal speed and he just doesn't seem to get tired."

Hirscher's hard-charging, go for broke style is not only working well for him, but also is more than compelling for those observing.

"I have a lot of fun when I take risks," said Hirscher. "When I risk everything I am fast because I am a very small guy at 73 kilos, so I have to take risks and push it harder on the flat parts than some of the other guys. More risk, more fun for me."

Switzerland's Carlo Janka, who was third after the first run just .35 behind Jansrud, had his share of problems in the second run and slipped to eighth.

Austria's Benjamin Raich was sixth retaining his lead in the overall World Cup standings.

It was the second day in a row that Hirscher, Ligety and Jansrud shared the podium, just in a different order. Yesterday, Hirscher was second to the American, .34 behind.

Despite the near miss, Jansrud was still pleased with his performance.

"It was my first time leading a World Cup giant slalom and for sure there were some emotions up there in the starthouse," said Jansrud. "I felt calm at the start and gave it my best."

Jansrud's second run time of 1:13.83 was nearly a second slower than Hirscher's.

"In a way when you cross the finish line, you feel like ‘damn, that wasn't good enough'," he said. "I haven't been regularly up there on the podium. This is my third time so I'm in no position to complain over second place. It's my career best."

In addition to yesterday's third-place finish, Jansrud was also third last season in Adelboden, Switzerland.

"Hopefully now, I've found that little piece that is missing so I'll be more consistently on the podium," said the 24-year-old Norwegian.

Like Jansrud, Ligety was also more that satisfied with his two podiums in two days.

"It's definitely nice to have the win and the podium here," said Ligety. "It helps the confidence and I know I'm skiing well. It's almost good to get third today to keep the fire and motivation going. I don't want to get too complacent."

After the two days of giant slalom races in Slovenia, Ligety now leads the GS standings with 352 points. Blardone is second with 309 and Hirscher has climbed to third with 306. The final giant slalom will occur at World Cup Finals in Garmisch-Partenkirchen come mid-March.

"It's very nice to have the red bib and build my lead a little bit on Blardone, but then obviously losing a little to Marcel," said the American. "It's not all that safe. It's nice to have a 43-point lead - it's a healthy lead but not a safe lead by any means. I'm definitely psyched to have the red bib but it's far from over."

The esteemed Alberto Tomba, who won five times in Kranjska Gora during his career, was in attendance over the past two days watching the races from the finish area.

When Hirscher was asked if the legendary Italian ski racer said anything to him after his impressive victory, he responded, "All he said was ‘amazing!' and that was enough."

By Brian Pinelli
FISalpine.com
Saturday 30 January 2010
KRANSJKA GORA, Slovenia