Drama in Kranjska Gora: Kristoffersen leads, Haaser struggles with the slope!

Drama in Kranjska Gora: Kristoffersen leads, Haaser struggles with the slope!

In the magnet of alpine ski racing, Kranjska Gora, Norwegian ski star Henrik Kristoffersen took the lead in the giant slalom on Saturday. This is his first half-time lead of the season, a remarkable moment for the athlete who mastered the conditions for the race and later shone with his result. Marco Odermatt from Switzerland, just 0.15 seconds behind Kristoffersen, took second place and also put in an impressive performance. Joan Verdu from Andorra was able to position herself in third place with a surprising time (+0.52 seconds), which intensified the fight for victory.

Austrians struggle with the conditions

The best Austrian in the first round was Raphael Haaser, who was able to hold his own in eighth place (+1.03 seconds), followed by Manuel Feller, who finished just behind him in ninth place. Haaser, who had previously won the world championship title, expressed his concerns about the challenging conditions: "It's not the conditions that I like best," he explained on ORF. He spoke of deep tracks in the upper part of the salt slope and changeable snow conditions that were not exactly in the athletes' best interests. Stefan Brennsteiner also had difficulties and ended up in eleventh place (+1.32 seconds) after a mishap with his binding during the World Championships.

Overall, there was only one outstanding driver in the field: Loic Meillard from Switzerland. Despite his sixth place (+0.84 seconds), he noticed two major mistakes that affected his race. Patrick Feurstein and Marco Schwarz were stuck at the back of the field, in 16th and 17th place. These results highlight the challenges skiers face in changeable weather conditions and problematic slopes, as reported by oe24.at and kleinezeitung.at сообщает.