Robinson Winds On Day 1 GS, Scheib Wins Second Tremblant GS
Alice Robinson (Queenstown, 24) has backed up last weekend’s victory, taking the win this morning at the Tremblant FIS Giant Slalom World Cup in Canada. This marks Robinson’s career sixth World Cup victory and her 19th World Cup podium.
In her post race interview Robinson said; “That was such a testing race, it felt like the complete opposite of Copper last weekend, I’m so excited and I’m so glad I was able to hold on after the lead in the first run and build on it, it’s awesome.”
The conditions were challenging with flat light and snow falling, causing problems for some of the most seasoned racers on course. Robinson was unfazed by the conditions, putting down a lightning fast first run to lead the race by -0.33 seconds after the first run.
Robinson pushed out the start gate for her second run, delivering a dynamic top to bottom run, managing the terrain incredibly well, leaving nothing to chance and taking the win by almost a full second.
Robinson explained; “The speed was faster [in the second run], I think the snow got colder. It stopped snowing as much and it froze so the tempo was up a bit, and it was definitely just working top to bottom. It’s a flat hill, but it’s not easy, it has got so much terrain, so you have to be tactically smart where you push and where you hold back a bit.”
Her nearest competitor Zrinka Ljutic of Croatia finished in second position, +0.94 seconds behind Robinson, with Canadian Valerie Grenier rounding out the podium in third position on home snow in front of a roaring crowd.
Comparing today to last week’s race at Copper Mountain Robinson explained; “The slope here is really different, Copper was steep and really fast the whole time, today was really grindy and had so much micro terrain, it definitely tested different skills than we tested in Copper. I’m really proud of myself and the team, we did a lot of work this summer with terrain as it’s been a weakness of mine, so I am really glad it’s paid off!”
Redemption came quickly for Julia Scheib (AUT/Rossignol) in Tremblant. Twenty-four hours after crashing through a gate and failing to finish the first run of Saturday's Giant Slalom, losing her red bib in the process, Scheib won her second GS race of the season with two brilliant runs down the Flying Mile course on Sunday.
The 27-year-old was the only skier to be close to Saturday's winner Alice Robinson (NZL/Salomon) after the first run, and put down a superb second run as the penultimate skier to take a lead that she would not relinquish.
Skiing last for the second day in a row and seeking her third GS win in succession, Robinson made a big error midway down the course and ended up third, 0.78 seconds behind Scheib's winning time of 2:13.00.
Robinson, in bib 3, put down the quickest run one time taking the lead right from the first sector and then seeing the green light on the next three sections to cross the finish line with a run one time of 1:07.44. Austria’s Julia Scheib put down a quick first run and was sitting just +0.16 seconds behind Robinson after run one was complete.
Robinson was the final athlete on course for the second run and kicked into her top gear right out of the start gate, giving it everything out on course. A tiny error in the second sector cost Robinson precious hundredths of a second, but nevertheless her exceptional performance throughout the rest of the race still meant she finished well inside the podium time in third place.
Splitting the two dominant GS skiers of the young season was runner-up Sara Hector (SWE/Head, +0.57s), who wrote her own redemption story after missing a gate early on Saturday and then moving up five spots in Sunday's second run.
Scheib and Robinson have now won all four GS races this season between them, with each skier recording two wins and an additional podium as the form line ahead of February's Olympic Winter Games begins to take shape.
While the New Zealander still narrowly leads the Giant Slalom standings, it was the Austrian's turn to stand on the top step of the podium on Sunday.
"To win this race is incredible," Scheib said. "After yesterday, it was not that easy." Despite skiing well in the first run, Scheib lost time in the closeout and felt she hadn't been aggressive enough in falling 0.16 seconds behind Robinson. "I had it in my mind in the first run in this mid-section where I went out yesterday and I was a little bit on the safe side," Scheib said.
She wasted no time in fixing her approach for the afternoon session."In the second (run) it was totally different," Scheib said. "I knew I had to attack more, and it was a really good run. Not the best beginning, to be honest, but I had a really good flat (section) and it was quick."
The flattest section of an already flat course was where the race was won and lost. Where Scheib thrived, Robinson faltered, getting her outside ski pitched into the air midway down the course and temporarily losing control.
"I really wanted to push myself in the second run, maybe that's why I had that mistake which cost a bit, but I was trying to go for it, so I'm happy," the 24-year-old said of missing out on what would have been her third win in nine days.
Instead, that victory belonged to Scheib, who hadn't won a World Cup race before this season, but triumphed in the opener in Sölden and then finished second last weekend in Copper Mountain before Sunday's second win.
"Small things," the Rossignol skier said in explaining her breakout season. "Sometimes to be patient, things take a while. I enjoy skiing at the moment and I want to take the momentum (forward)."
Olympic Giant Slalom champion Hector is another skier who will carry some momentum into the next technical races after saving her best skiing of the weekend for last.
Following Saturday's bitterly disappointing DNF, she managed only seventh in the first run on Sunday after a ragged closeout, but a storming second run — the fastest of the afternoon — turned the tide.
"I'm super happy about my second run," Hector said. "The first run I felt a little bit tight, I was a little bit nervous. Sometimes I'm not so good at getting over mistakes so fast, so this about yesterday stayed a lot in my head. But then, the second run I tried to ski a little bit more freely. The first gates were not super good, but then after I went over this roller where I went out (on Saturday), I tried to open the gap."
The next four skiers, including Mikaela Shiffrin (USA/Atomic) and Camille Rast (SUI/Head), all failed to overtake Hector, and when Robinson dropped down two spots, the Swede moved all the way up to second.
Shiffrin and Rast ended up tied for fourth, 0.39 seconds off the podium. It was Rast's second fourth-place finish of the weekend, while Shiffrin leaves Canada with two top-six results as she continues to search for her top GS form.
There was no repeat of Saturday's podium heroics by hometown favorite Valerie Grenier (CAN/Rossignol), who started well in the first run but spun out of the course just as she came into view of her adoring fans at the bottom of the hill.
That mistake robbed Grenier of the chance to finish on her own terms, but Scheib had no such problems and didn't hesitate when asked to nominate her favorite part of the race.
"When I crossed the finish line," she said. "I also enjoyed skiing to be honest, but crossing the finish line with the green light is perfect."
