Kjetil Jansrud missed his 23rd Super-G World Cup victory in Gröden on Friday by just five hundredths of a second. However, his second place was the first podium finish for the Norwegian this season. With a total of 14 athletes in the top 30, the HEAD World Cup Rebels were an extremely strong team.
Following 23 podium finishes in the Slalom, Wendy Holdener from Switzerland finished third in Courchevel to celebrate her Giant Slalom podium premiere. A total of five women from the HEAD team were among the top 13.
The World Cup weekend in Val d'Isere finished with a premiere: For the first time the HEAD World Cup Rebels celebrated a double victory in the men's Slalom with Alexis Pinturault and Andre Myhrer. Not only that, but in the women's Parallel Slalom in St. Moritz two HEAD athletes Anna Swenn Larsson and Franziska Gritsch finished on the podium as well.
On the Birds of Prey slope in Beaver Creek, the HEAD World Cup Rebels once again showed their claws.
This season Matthias Mayer is competing with a new model of boot. His trust in the new equipment has been rewarded. The 29-year-old Austrian won the Super-G in Lake Louise, following his fifth place in the Downhill the day before. More podium finishes for the HEAD World Cup Rebels were bagged by Beat Feuz in the Downhill and by Anna Swenn-Larsson in the Slalom in Killington.
Following Alexis Pinturault's victory in the Giant Slalom to open the season in Sölden, the HEAD World Cup Rebels also had a successful start to the Slalom World Cup: Wendy Holdener finished second in Levi, making it her 23rd podium finish in the Slalom. Five of the HEAD team were in the top 14. Andre Myhrer finished fifth in the men's event.
Victory for Alexis Pinturault, 2nd place for Mathieu Faivre, four in the top 5 in the men's category. Maria Therese Tviberg, Franziska Gritsch and Lara Gut-Behrami all in the top 10 in the women's event. The World Cup opening was pretty much perfect for the HEAD World Cup Rebels. The only downer: Bernadette Schild tore her cruciate ligament and is out of action for the rest of the season.