Fourth RTL victory of the season

Strong as an ox! Julia Scheib wins at Kronplatz

Julia Scheib celebrated her fourth giant slalom victory of the season at Kronplatz.(Bild: AP/Marco Trovati)

Red-white-red celebrations at Kronplatz! Julia Scheib was incredibly strong in the second giant slalom run and secured her fourth victory of the season. Federica Brignone finished a strong sixth on her comeback.

Julia Scheib remains the dominant giant slalom skier in the World Cup. The 27-year-old from Styria celebrated her fourth victory in her specialty discipline on Tuesday at Kronplatz in the seventh race of the season and is now aiming for the small crystal globe. Scheib relegated Switzerland's Camille Rast (+0.37 seconds) and the halfway leader Sara Hector from Sweden (+0.46) to second and third place. Federica Brignone impressed in her comeback after a 292-day injury break with sixth place.

Scheib catapulted herself from third place to first in the second run with the fastest time on the demanding "Erta" slope. The leader in the discipline World Cup had never been better than ninth at Kronplatz in the World Cup until then, even though it is actually her "favorite slope," as she emphasized. "I'm very happy that I finally made it here," Scheib told ORF. "It hasn't been easy in recent years, I've been thrown off several times. It can end badly on this slope if you let your skis run too early."

Here are the results in detail:

Many athletes had problems on the extremely twisty course in the first run. Scheib was 0.39 seconds behind Hector after a run that she described as "not perfect." The second run was set much more directly. Scheib attacked with success. "The run was smoother, which suited me," said the current best giant slalom skier in the World Cup.

Reaching for the crystal globe
After four wins, two second places, and one DNF, Scheib now leads the discipline World Cup by 139 points ahead of Kranjska Gora winner Rast. Theoretically, she could already secure her first small crystal globe on Saturday in the last World Cup giant slalom before the Olympics in Spindleruv Mlyn (Spindlermühle). After the Olympic giant slalom on February 15 in Cortina, there are only two World Cups left in this discipline in Aare and Hafjell. "A lot can still happen in three races. I want to focus on the next race now, on skiing, then I think it's looking good," said Scheib.

The podium at Kronplatz: Julia Scheib (center), ahead of Camille Rast (left) and Sara Hector (right).(Bild: AP/Marco Trovati)

  Nina Astner (+3.67 seconds), Stephanie Brunner (+3.69) and Franziska Gritsch (+3.73) finished in 16th to 18th place. The Tyrolean women were already bunched together in 19th, 20th and 21st place after the first run. "It was a bit of a relief," said Astner, who was still suffering from bruises two days after a training crash in Hinterreit. Gritsch was also satisfied after her best result since November: "That was a step forward for me." Ricarda Haaser finished 26th, more than five seconds behind, in her third giant slalom since her comeback after a cruciate ligament rupture.

Brignone's view of the Olympics
Overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin finished fourth, 0.86 seconds behind Scheib. Despite a strong second run, the US star is still waiting for her first giant slalom podium finish of the season. Brignone, on the other hand, caused a stir. The 35-year-old, who suffered a double tibia and fibula fracture and a cruciate ligament tear at the beginning of April, was already seventh after the first run. She had to battle her nerves. "I was tense, I had a lot of emotions," explained Brignone. She even forgot to breathe until the first intermediate time.

  The overall World Cup winner from last year's season still has her sights set on the Olympic Games, which begin in two and a half weeks in her native Italy. "She has already won a lot, she knows how to race," said Scheib, who trained with Brignone last week. She is happy that her competitor's leg is doing so well. "We'll definitely need to wrap up warm for Cortina."

According to Brignone, she has only completed 13 real training days on snow since returning to skiing. "I'm really glad to have competed in at least one race before the Olympics. I didn't know how my body would react," explained the exceptional athlete. "It's a very good day, it's wonderful. But I need more training, I have to ski even faster." She will do this in the coming days with the Italian speed group in Cortina. Brignone will skip the giant slalom in Spindleruv Mlyn again.