Today’s World Cup convention in Kvitfjell had two unexpected winners. Swiss skiers Niels Hintermann and Cameron Alexander of Canada, surprising the favorites with a higher starting point of 39, shared the win in the first swimming speed race. Matthias Mayer of Austria was beaten by 12 hundredths.
Swiss skiers Niels Hintermann and Cameron Alexander of Canada, surprising the favorites with a higher starting point of 39, shared the win in the first swimming speed race. Matthias Mayer of Austria was beaten by 12 hundredths.
Twenty-six-year-old Hintermann won the series for only the second time after his combined success at Wengen in 2017. Two years his junior, Alexander has never been on a podium at a World Cup and has only placed in the top ten once. It’s 10 downhill on the local track from 2020 which is his career maximum, this season he’s best at 40.
“I knew I had it. This track suited me and I put everything in it. So I was surprised and not,” said Alexander. He raced at Kvitfjell in early February and won the European Cup and won fifth place, in super-G he was second. “It means everything to me, it’s crazy,” he added.
Hintermann was slowed by health problems after his maiden win five years ago. “Then I had a few seasons due to injury, where I suffered a lot. Last year I was down. But I started well this year and now it’s fine. The material also works perfectly,” said the Swiss player. showing form already third place in the December conventions in Bormio and Val Gardena.
Alexander’s unexpected strike pushed the Swiss bronze Beata Feuze out of the back position until then. The Olympic champion from Beijing was a hundredth faster than the homemade Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, in a balanced battle for small crystal balls, but the Norwegian skier still holds a three-point lead over Feuz at the head of the ongoing evaluation of the discipline.
Apart from Alexander, another competitor with high starting numbers made it into the top ten at Kvitfjell. Germany’s Simon Jocher, who started 44th, managed to finish seventh, and Italy’s Guglielmo Bosca finished ninth with number 48.
After today’s congress, which replaces the canceled December race of Beaver Creek in the calendar, the World Cup in Kvitfjell continues over the weekend. Another drop is planned for Saturday, and the super-giant slalom will take place on Sunday.
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