First victory of the season for Vincent Kriechmayr

Back in 2017, Vincent Kriechmayr celebrated his first World Cup victory in the Super-G in Beaver Creek, USA, and on Friday, eight years later, the Austrian athlete is delighted that his 19th victory was won on the same course. A day earlier, Ryan Cochran-Siegle notched up his fourth World Cup podium in the first Downhill event of the season by finishing in second place. On Sunday, Sara Hector won her first podium finish of the season with a brilliant run two, finishing second in the second Giant Slalom in Tremblant, Canada.

"We did really well in the speed discipline events in Beaver Creek. Vincent Kriechmayr's performance really stood out. The conditions were difficult and the way the course was set was also not easy. There was a lot of discussion after deciding to stop the race, but Marco Odermatt, who dominated this discipline last season, competed in similar conditions to Vincent Kriechmayr, so this victory was certainly well earned," said HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber. "Ryan Cochran-Siegle's podium in front of his home crowd was also a great result and we can also be very satisfied with the performance of the younger skiers in our team in the Giant Slalom. Alexis Pinturault performed very well in some of the worst light conditions, Lukas Feurstein clocked the fastest time on one of the runs, and Oscar Andreas Sandvik finished in the top 15 in the Giant Slalom for the first time. The women's team had similar results. It was great how Sara Hector managed to focus in the second race after having dropped out the day before. Camille Rast took two fourth places on a run without many steep sections, which she would have found easier. Lena Dürr is performing consistently in the top ten. At the events in Canada, we have managed to compensate well for Lara Gut-Behrami not being able to compete."

"I'm happy with my run and with my performance"

On Friday, Vincent Kriechmayr won his tenth World Cup victory in a Super-G in Beaver Creek in challenging conditions. The 34-year-old Austrian athlete skied a dream run with bib number six in weather conditions that were still reasonably good. After bib number 31, the remaining competitors were unable to start due to strong winds and fog. "It wasn't the most glowing result because the race was only really fair up to bib number 14 before the conditions started to deteriorate. Of course I'm happy with my run and my performance, but I would have preferred it to have been a fairer race," explained Vincent Kriechmayr at the finish. Joining him in the top ten were Stefan Eichberger from Austria in sixth place, James Crawford from Canada was seventh, and Stefan Babinsky from Austria was ninth. Ryan Cochran-Siegle from the USA finished 13th, Lukas Feurstein from Austria 15th, Justin Murisier from Switzerland 16th, and Guglielmo Bosca from Italy was 21st.

Fourth World Cup podium for Ryan Cochran-Siegle

On Thursday, in the first Downhill race of the season in Beaver Creek, Ryan Cochran-Siegle finished second to equal his best World Cup result in this discipline so far. It is the 33-year-old American athlete's third podium in the Downhill, and his fourth overall following his Super-G victory in Bormio in 2020. "It's strange, I have the feeling that if you don't try as hard, it actually comes to you easily. I'm 33 years old and I'm still learning something new every day," said Ryan Cochran-Siegle. "As an American kid, the Birds of Prey run is always something very special for me. It was my second World Cup start here, and it's the run where I won my first World Cup points - it's something special for me to race in front of this crowd."

Four HEAD World Cup Rebels in the top seven

The HEAD World Cup Rebels also put in a strong team performance in this first Downhill event. In addition to Ryan Cochran-Siegle in second place, no fewer than four HEAD athletes finished in the top seven: Franjo von Allmen from Switzerland was fourth, Vincent Kriechmayr fifth, and Stefan Eichberger was seventh. World Cup points also went to Stefan Babinsky in 18th place, and to Justin Murisier who finished 21st.

Fastest time for Lukas Feurstein in the Giant Slalom

On Sunday, Lukas Feurstein clocked the fastest time on run two of the final Giant Slalom in Beaver Creek. The 24-year-old Austrian athlete finished tenth overall, his best result to date in this discipline. Atle Lie McGrath from Norway was the best in the HEAD team in seventh place. Alexis Pinturault from France came eleventh, Oscar Andreas Sandvik from Norway 15th, and Flavio Vitale from Italy 21st. This is the first time Oscar Andreas Sandvik has bagged World Cup points in the Giant Slalom.

Sara Hector clocks the fastest run to finish second

On Sunday, Sara Hector skied a brilliant second run to win her first podium finish of the season in the second Giant Slalom in Tremblant. The Swedish athlete was in seventh place after the first run and moved up to second place overall after clocking the fastest time on the second run. "I was a bit too cautious on the first run. I was a bit stiff, which didn't feel good. The second run went very well, and now it feels really great," said Sara Hector. Camille Rast from Switzerland came fourth and Lena Dürr from Germany finished tenth. World Cup points were also picked up by Hilma Lövblom from Sweden in 18th place, Vanessa Kasper from Switzerland 19th, Stephanie Brunner from Austria 20th, Victoria Olivier from Austria 22nd, Wendy Holdener from Switzerland 24th, and Ilaria Ghisalberti from Italy 27th. For Victoria Olivier, it was the best World Cup result of her career so far.

Camille Rast just missed the podium on Saturday

On Saturday, Camille Rast narrowly missed a place on the podium at the first Giant Slalom in Tremblant. The Swiss athlete was in sixth place after run one, skied the fourth-fastest time on run two, and finished just 21 hundredths of a second away from third place. Estelle Alphand from Sweden raced to seventh place, her first top-ten finish this season. Eleventh and twelfth place went to Stephanie Brunner from Austria and Emma Aicher from Germany, Wendy Holdener was 17th, Lena Dürr 21st, and Ilaria Ghisalberti 26th.