Sixth Combined Event Crystal Globe for Alexis Pinturault

​HEAD World Cup Rebel Alexis Pinturault wrote a new chapter in ski history at the Combined event in Hinterstoder on Sunday: this victory means the French athlete has won the Small Crystal Globe for the sixth time in this discipline - a new record in the Ski World Cup. On Monday Pinturault notched up another win with his victory in the Giant Slalom, putting him in the lead in the overall World Cup. Nina Ortlieb form Austria celebrated her first World Cup victory at the Super-G in La Thuile.

Victory in the Combined event in Hinterstoder went to Alexis Pinturault with almost one second lead. The 28-year-old was in second place after the Super-G. Pinturault put in an impressive performance in the Slalom with the fastest time. The Frenchman scored 280 points in just three Combined events. Third place in the overall ranking in this discipline went to Matthias Mayer. The Austrian took sixth place in Hinterstoder and Kjetil Jansrud from Norway was fourth.

"I was not at all sure about the Slalom run. I tried to attack but it was very difficult to ski fast. The course was very slow and not that steep. On the finish line I was still not sure that I had done it. I like both the speed and the technical disciplines. The Combined events are great," explained Alexis Pinturault.

Giant Slalom also a crowning success for Pinturault

On Monday Alexis Pinturault topped his weekend in Hinterstoder with victory in the Giant Slalom. He started the second run with a lead of nine tenths of a second. The French athlete ended up winning 45 hundredths of a second ahead, scoring a total of 250 points in the three races in Hinterstoder and taking the lead in the World Cup overall.

"Hinterstoder is a very special place for me. I have won four out of six races so far. This weekend has been awesome. That means I am now the favourite for the overall World Cup. I did my best here. We have to wait and see which races will still go ahead despite the Coronavirus," said Alexis Pinturault.

"Our Racing Assistant Patrick Wirth told us when we arrived that Alexis was going to bag 250 points here. And he was right. Alexis did a perfect job. You could see that everything was right with the equipment and that he felt good. In the Giant Slalom he showed the way to do it on the upper section. It's great that he has been able to consistently put in his best performance three races in a row," said HEAD Racing Director Rainer Salzgeber.

Mathieu Faivre from France finished ninth overall in the Giant Slalom, Tommy Ford from the USA finished in twelfth place.

Eight HEAD World Cup Rebels in the top 13 in Super-G

In the Super-G on Saturday in Hinterstoder the HEAD World Cup Rebels delivered a great team result. Eight athletes finished in the top 13: Matthias Mayer was third and missed victory by just eight hundredths of a second. Alexis Pinturault finished fourth, Beat Feuz from Switzerland fifth, Kjetil Jansrud sixth, Mattia Casse from Italy eighth, Emanuele Buzzi from Italy ninth, James Crawford from Canada twelfth and Josef Ferstl from Germany finished 13th.

"You are looking for those hundredths of a second everywhere of course. Maybe I was too straight on exiting the steep section. But it could have been anywhere because it is a very difficult slope, very technical and demanding. In the Super-G World Cup everything is now brutally close," said Matthias Mayer.

First World Cup victory for Nina Ortlieb

It was also a successful weekend for the HEAD women's team. Nina Ortlieb from Austria celebrated her first World Cup victory on Saturday in the Super-G in La Thuile in Italy. The 23-year-old started the season successfully by finishing in fourth place in the Downhill in Lake Louise. A week ago she was third in Crans Montana to win her first podium finish. Corinne Suter was third this week, just seven hundredths of a second behind the winner. Ahead of the last race the Swiss athlete now has a 19-point lead in the Super-G World Cup with 360 points. Elena Curtoni from Italy finished seventh, the two Swiss athletes Wendy Holdener and Lara Gut-Behrami were ninth and tenth, Tina Weirather from Liechtenstein finished 14th.

"It was an extremely difficult course. For me it was the first time on this run. Today I was lucky with the hundredths of a second as well. I already finished fourth in the first race this season. That gave me a boost for the whole season. I'm delighted that it went so well and that I can stand on top of the podium. It's a dream you work for all day long," said Nina Ortlieb. The Combined event on Sunday in La Thuile had to be cancelled because there was too much new snow.

"Nina's victory is also historic"

"For me, Nina's victory has something that is historic about it. Nina is always being compared to her father who was an Olympic champion. That she has now taken this step is simply awesome. She is a very strong skier and never lost her composure even after disappointing results. For us, of course, this is perfect. Her father Patrick used to be a successful HEAD athlete. Nina has been using our skis ever since she first started skiing. This makes her win very special to us," said Rainer Salzgeber.