Slalom in Gurgl

Frenchman surprises! Raschner as ÖSV bright spot

First victory for Paco Rassat!(Bild: EPA/ANNA SZILAGYI)

Paco Rassat has surprisingly secured victory in the slalom in Gurgl. It's a first for the 27-year-old! The Frenchman won ahead of Belgium's Armand Machant and Norway's Atle Lie McGrath. Things did not go according to plan for the ÖSV team. Manuel Feller and Fabio Gstrein messed up their second run and fell far behind. A small red-white-red ray of hope was provided by Dominik Raschner, who made up 19 places in the second run and finished in sixth place as the best Austrian. 

Paco Rassat celebrated his maiden victory in the second slalom of the season in the Alpine Ski World Cup in Hochgurgl. The Frenchman won the race on Saturday with a furious second run, which saw him move up from 14th place. With his first World Cup success, the 27-year-old also took the lead in the slalom rankings. Second and third place went to Armand Marchant from Belgium and Atle Lie McGrath from Norway. The best Austrian was Dominik Raschner in sixth place.

ÖSV aces disappoint
The Tyrolean took advantage of his good starting number in the final of his home race and improved by a whopping 19 places. Simon Rueland was the second best ÖSV skier in twelfth place. For the other Austrians, however, things did not go according to plan in the second run: Fabio Gstrein lost eight positions and had to settle for 16th place in front of his home crowd, Marco Schwarz also lost eight places and finished 21st. Manuel Feller was even worse off, dropping from sixth to 27th after a completely botched run. Johannes Strolz collected a few more points in 24th place.

Manuel Feller(Bild: GEPA)

The World Cup squad is now moving to North America in the USA, where a super-G (Thursday) and a giant slalom (Friday) are on the program for the men next week in Copper Mountain (Colorado). The next World Cup slalom for Feller and Co. will take place in Val d'Isere in three weeks' time (December 14).