10th win for Nicole Hosp

Manuèle Lang 10.12.2007 10:13 Uhr

A day after withdrawing for the downhill race which she considered too dangerous, Austria's Nicole Hosp won the women's World Cup slalom race in the Rockies on Sunday to take over the lead in the specialty standings.

The defending Overall World Cup champion achieved an impressive second run to beat by 1,19 seconds Finland's Tanja Poutiainen while another Austrian, Kathrin Zettel, was 3rd at 1.34 seconds.

The victory allows Olympic slalom silver medallist Hosp to replace compatriot Marlies Schild at the top of the World Cup slalom standings. Schild, who captured the first two slalom races this season failed to finish the second run after clocking the seventh best time only in the morning.

Poutiainen had taken a mere advantage of 3/100 over Hosp into the second leg but the Austrian produced a blistering run in difficult, soft snow to ensure victory. It’s her fist podium finish this winter. She was 4th two weeks ago in Panorama, Canada.

Sweden’s Therese Borssen came in 4th ahead of Sarka Zahrobska from the Czech Republic and Veronika Zuzulova from Slovakia.

Resi Stiegler was the best of a disappointing US Ski Team in 8th place. Julia Mancuso was 19th and Lindsey Vonn 27th. Stiegler clocked one of the fastest intermediate times in the second run yet she lost all her advance at the bottom.

A strong second run for Nicole Hosp.
Hosp, who was 2nd in slalom at Aspen in 2006, has now won 10 World Cup races in her career and she was delighted to pick up the red bib as slalom leader. "It is great to get hold of that red bib especially after such a challenging second run. I really fought from top to bottom today," Hosp told reporters. “I achieved an almost perfect second run considering the difficult course conditions. It was rough yet much better for sure than Saturday.”

The Austrian was 2nd in Reiteralm in November but her following results in Canada were rather disappointing. She failed to snatch a giant slalom in Panorama after dominating the first run. A big mistake in the middle of her second leg cost her much time and a spot among the top-20.

Tanja Poutiainen, who celebrated her very first World Cup win here three years ago, was happy to take a podium position for the first time since Zwiesel in March when she won the giant slalom. "I'm back up there and it is a good feeling. I managed to keep my rhythm despite making a lot of mistakes," said the Finn. “I guess I have to be patient but at least I’m back on the podium and now it’s just a matter of putting two clean runs together,” added the slalom and giant slalom World Cup champion from 2005.

Zettel's third place was her first podium in slalom since her crash at Tarvisio, Italy, in March. "It really is great to be back on the podium. After my injury I skied like crazy but I made so many mistakes - today I was back there," she said. “I train well in Colorado where I also won a couple of Nor-Am races and it’s a good feeling to be back,” also said Zettel who captured a giant slalom race here two years ago. “I was lucky not to crash several times on my way down today but I kept pushing my skis forward. I feel comfortable in this slope – this is my fourth podium finish here.”

Sweden's triple world champion Anja Paerson was one of eleven racers not to finish the first run. The triple World Champion from Are has not found back her best motivation since the start of this season. She may need some time to get going this winter after achieving so many extraordinary performances in recent seasons.

Back in the points Polish skier Katarzyna Karasinska who was 24th. Croatia’s Ana Jelusic only came in 12th this time after reaching the podium in Panorama.