KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — In the stunning setting of Kranjska Gora, Henrik Kristoffersen took the lead in the initial run of the men’s World Cup giant slalom, positioning himself just ahead of Marco Odermatt. Both skiers have shown exceptional performances on the Podkoren course, with each achieving victory in half of the previous six giant slalom races since 2019.
Kristoffersen, who claimed the world champion title in 2019, completed his run 0.15 seconds faster than Odermatt. He is striving to secure his first victory in the giant slalom since his last win on this very course in March of the previous year. Currently, Kristoffersen stands in third place in the season rankings, trailing 81 points behind the leader, Odermatt, who holds Olympic and three-time World Cup giant slalom victories for Switzerland.
Joan Verdu from Andorra finished the first run in third place, with a time deficit of 0.52 seconds behind Kristoffersen. Other competitors were unable to come within eight-tenths of a second of Kristoffersen’s lead.
Raphael Haaser, recently crowned world champion, was the top-performing Austrian, placing eighth. This was his first race since he clinched gold at Saalbach-Hinterglemm on home snow two weeks prior. The Austrian men’s skiing team is experiencing a challenging period, having failed to secure a victory in any of the last 33 World Cup races, a drought reminiscent of their 34-event winless span back in the 1991-92 season.
