Lucas Pinheiro Braathen Soars Through the Wind; Vinatzer Takes a Solid Seventh Place

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen dominates the giant slalom in Sölden and claims his ninth career victory. The Brazilian triumphed in the Alpine Ski World Cup opener, at the end of a race affected by strong winds, which forced organizers to halt the second run after just over 52 seconds, leaving the entire upper section of the course out of play. Also on the podium were Loic Meillard, second by 48 hundredths, and Marco Odermatt, third, 49 hundredths behind the winner.

Pinheiro Braathen handled the wall and the transition to the final flat section perfectly, clocking a total time of 1’44”72. Behind him, River Radamus staged an excellent comeback, climbing 11 positions to finish fourth. Raphael Haaser took fifth place.

The day also brought an encouraging result for Italy, thanks to Alex Vinatzer, who finished seventh. The athlete from Val Gardena made a few mistakes on the wall in both runs, but managed to make up ground in the final section, climbing seven positions and finishing 1.08 seconds behind Pinheiro Braathen, who set the benchmark in the discipline today.

No final result, however, for Giovanni Borsotti, who had a strong first run. Starting with bib number 29, the Piedmont native stayed in line with Pinheiro Braathen until the first intermediate time, before making a mistake at the entrance to the wall. Despite the mistake, he finished eighth in the first run, but another error early in the second run knocked him out of contention for the top positions.

There were also encouraging signs from Giovanni Franzoni, who finished 19th at the end of the first run with bib number 31 and a deficit of 1.27 seconds behind the leader. The skier from Garda had shown an excellent first half and posted the fastest time in the final section. In the second run, however, a mistake in the final section caused him to lose the ideal line, sending him off the course.