Worley Wins In Kronplatz Giant Slalom

Tessa Worley (FRA) earned her first Audi FIS World Cup victory since 2018 today in Kronplatz (ITA), topping the field in the giant slalom.

Worley, whose longtime boyfriend Julien Lizeroux will retire this evening at Schladming, Austria's Night Race, put on a show second run, hammering from fifth place to take the big win. Lara Gut-Behrami was second—her third podium in four races in three different disciplines—and World Cup giant slalom leader Marta Bassino rounded out the podium in third.

Since her last giant slalom victory, which came at the opening of the 2018 season in Soelden, Worley has always been in the hunt for the victory, with six podiums to her credit. This season, it has been a battle to top the field with Marta Bassino (ITA) emerging as the dominant force. But today it was Worley who earned the bragging rights as Bassino had to settle for third place0.73 seconds behind.

Gut-Behrami extended her podium streak to three-straight as she has landed in the top-three in three different disciplines just four days apart, an impressive feat for the Swiss star. She was second in the Crans Montana downhill, first in the super-G there, in addition to today’s runner-up finish.

Bassino still has a clear and dominant lead in the giant slalom season standings, with 460 points, well ahead of Worley with 336 points and Michelle Gisin (SUI) with 312. For her part, Gisin missed a massive opportunity today to close the gap further. She sat in first place at the end of the first run, and was ahead until the last interval, where she lost her tempo, getting bumped down to sixth place.

Two-time Olympic champion Mikaela Shiffrin snagged fourth place in Kronplatz, Italy.

It was a gorgeous day on Kronplatz’s Erta slope and Shiffrin skied into second place after first run, behind Switzerland's Michelle Gisin. The lights were out on the bottom section of the Erta, and Shiffrin had a little trouble on the pitch second run, which put her back to fourth. Still, she was excited about being just off the podium again in giant slalom—putting her in the top six in all five giant slaloms she’s raced so far this season.

The Erta slope is known as one of the most challenging on the World Cup circuit. The start is located at 1,605 m (5,266 ft.) on the Piz de Plaies, while the finish is at 1,200 m (3,937 ft.), for an elevation change of 405 m (1,329 ft.) with a length of 1,325 m (4,347 ft.). In fact, the word "Erta" in the Ladin language means “the steep one”. The average slope is 32%, and ranges from 22-61%. In order to prevail on this track, one has to work from top to bottom, bring the fire, and take risks.

"Congrats to Tessa, Lara, and Marta for putting on an impressive show. It's a tough hill, so kudos to the girls who threw down," Shiffrin said after the race. "I felt like I made a few good turns both runs and my giant slalom is moving in the right direction, but it was a tough, bumpy, and dark second run. I'm really looking forward to getting another good training block in prior to World Champs at Cortina d'Ampezzo—which is one of my favorite venues on the Tour."

The U.S. Alpine Ski Team packed women in the second run, with Paula Moltzan skiing from bib 47 to 15th place and Nina O’Brien in 21st. Even with a sizeable mistake second run, O’Brien finished 25th overall to score for the fifth time in GS this season. Moltzan did not finish, but she's OK and skied down. AJ Hurt was also skiing strong, but skied out and did not finish first run.