Elena Curtoni takes the lead in the Super-G World Cup

Finishing in second place in the Super-G on Sunday in St. Moritz rounded off a successful weekend for Elena Curtoni. The Italian athlete has taken the lead in the discipline ranking with her podium finish. Johan Clarey bagged a cool Christmas present in Val Gardena with his second place in the Downhill on Saturday. Joan Verdu from Andorra delivered a surprise performance in Alta Badia with a sensational fastest run time and two top-15 finishes.

"For Elena Curtoni it was very close, and she did everything right. Whether you end up first or second is also very much up to your competitors," says HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "Unfortunately, it was a close call for Johan Clarey as well. Except for the Ciaslat section, he was in front for the whole run. Adrien Theaux's comeback from injury was also awesome. The fact that we didn't manage a podium finish in Alta Badia is of course not what we want. But we have made good progress again with Alexis Pinturault and Alexander Schmid. Joan Verdu's top-15 finishes show that he is focused. At the beginning of the season he unfortunately dropped out twice. He is now among the top 30. The conditions on the slopes are decisive at the moment. Even with bib numbers 4, 5 or 6, it can be a challenging race."

Elena Curtoni finishes second in the Super-G

Elena Curtoni left St. Moritz with a satisfied feeling. Following her victory in the Downhill event on Friday, the Italian athlete raced to the podium again by finishing in second place in the Super-G on Sunday - just twelve hundredths of a second behind the winner Mikaela Shiffrin. It was the tenth podium finish in Curtoni's career, and the sixth in the Super-G. With this second place, the 31-year-old also took the lead in the Super-G World Cup with 120 points after two races. Five other HEAD athletes finished in the first 16: Ragnhild Mowinckel from Norway was in sixth place, Lara Gut-Behrami from Switzerland was eighth, Laura Gauche from France twelfth, Corinne Suter from Switzerland 15th and Ariane Rädler from Austria finished in 16th place. The 23-year-old French athlete Karen Smadja Clement was pleased to celebrate her first World Cup points in 23rd place.

📷 GEPA pictures

13 HEAD Worldcup Rebels in the top 30

In the second Downhill race on Saturday, the HEAD Worldcup Rebels also showed their best side as a team. No fewer than 13 athletes landed in the points rankings. The Austrian athletes Cornelia Hütter and Nina Ortlieb took fifth and sixth place. Elena Curtoni was eighth, Lara Gut-Behrami twelfth, Corinne Suter 14th.

A cool Christmas present for Johan Clarey

In the final race in Val Gardena, the Downhill on Saturday, Johan Clarey once again proved that he is still a force to be reckoned with. The French athlete, who on the 8th of January celebrates his 42nd birthday, almost achieved his first World Cup victory. In the end, Clarey had to leave the win to Aleksander Aamodt Kilde who was 35 hundredths of a second faster. "I was a little disappointed to start with. But now I feel proud. To be on the podium at 42 is a very good feeling. This is a cool Christmas present for me." His compatriot Adrien Theaux, who is also already 38 years old, finished in fourth place, with Canadian James Crawford finishing just behind him in fifth place. Matthias Mayer from Austria finished twelfth.

📷 GEPA pictures

Sensational fastest time by Joan Verdu

The French athlete Alexis Pinturault just missed the podium in fourth place in the first Giant Slalom on Sunday in Alta Badia. A top result was again delivered by 22-year-old Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath in seventh place. Alexander Schmid from Germany finished eighth, Justin Murisier from Switzerland ninth. A sensational second run was clocked by the Andorran athlete Joan Verdu, who started the race with bib number 38 and was ranked 28th after the first run. The 27-year-old secured his best result in the World Cup so far with the fastest time on the second run to finish in twelfth place overall. He skied the second run in 1:15.74, 80 hundredths of a second faster than the second fastest Marco Odermatt. "This feels great. I am so happy that I managed to put in two good runs. I'm really looking forward to the finale at home in Andorra, and we'll be working hard until then," says Joan Verdu. Alexander Schmid moved up to to fifth place in the second Giant Slalom on Monday. Just behind the German athlete, Alexis Pinturault finished in sixth place. Joan Verdu equalled his best World Cup result from the previous day in twelfth place.