Written by: Patrick Lang
53 years after Erik Haker's first win in a giant slalom at Val d'Isère, Timon Haugan celebrated on Monday the 200th victory for the Norwegian men's team in a World Cup race, crushing the rest of the field in the spectacular Alta Badia slalom.
The 27-year-old Scandinavian, who is racing as Henrik Kristoffersen with Van Deer-Red Bull skis, clearly beat the rest of the field with Swiss Loic Meillard taking 2nd place at 1.13 seconds while Atle Lie McGrath was 3rd at 1.26 seconds, 5/100 ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen. The reigning slalom World Champion kept the lead in the slalom standings.
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was 12th thanks to his impressive second run in which he was faster than all his rivals. He had only clocked the 24th best time in the treacherous first run.
Timon Haugan became the third Norwegian champion to enjoy a victory this season after Alexander Sten Olsen at Soelden and Kristoffersen last week at Val d'Isère while McGrath reached his third podium since the season started at Soelden.
9th and 11th in the previous slalom races at Levi in Finland and Val d'Isère, Timon was racing with another attitude this time after scoring a solid 5th place in Sunday's GS. "My goal at the beginning of the season was to fight for the slalom globe but after my disappointing results in past weeks, I decided to try having some fun instead. I wanted to make the best out of today's rough conditions," he explained afterwards.
"I really felt inspired by the demanding snow conditions and this tough course, to do well on this legendary Gran Risa slope means a lot to me. It's definitely a great moment for me, I'm very thankful to all the people who helped me to make it happen," also said the racer from Oppdal, who turns 28 on December 27th.
"I was very confident after setting the fastest time in the first run, and I knew what I had to do in the afternoon... It was very exciting to fight as hard as possible," added with a smile the winner in slalom at the Finals at Saalbach last spring. Timon is now looking forward to the slalom at Madonna di Campiglio where he scored his very first World Cup points seven years ago.
The next men's slalom is scheduled on January 8th at Madonna di Campiglio, where the organizers are also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first victory of Sweden's superstar Ingemar Stenmark in December 1974.
Henrik Kristoffersen seems more than ready to battle for victory on the popular "Miramonti" course on which he already excelled in past seasons. He was hoping for more in Monday's slalom.A three-time-winner at Madonna di Campiglio, Kristoffersen surely wishes to start the new year with a. 25th slalom World Cup victory after failing to fully achieve his potential in Alta Badia. He was only 9th in giant slalom after losing too much time in his bad second run and again made too many mistakes in the second slalom run to have a real chance to reach the podium.
The next men's races are planned in a week at Bormio, Italy, where a downhill and a Super-G should take place on the treacherous "Stelvio" course which will also host the men's Olympic race in February 2026.
