Ledecka and Fischnaller on top in Cortina PGS night event
Dec 15, 2018·Alpine Snowboard
Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA) - The second of the two rapidfire FIS Snowboard alpine World Cup competitions to opened the 2018/19 season took to the slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo (ITA) on Saturday evening, where perfect weather and a tricky course allowed the sport’s best to shine under the lights, as Ester Ledecka (CZE) and Roland Fischnaller (ITA) took victories in an hard-fought evening of parallel giant slalom racing.
As with Thursday’s competition in Carezza (ITA), Ester Ledecka (CZE) and Nevin Galmarini (SUI) lead the respective ladies’ and men’s fields through the qualification round, as the pair who matched each other with PyeongChang 2018 gold medal wins and 2017/18 crystal globe triumphs continued to ride strong starts to the season.
However, unlike Galmarini, Ledecka would be able to cash in on her top ranking, attacking the multifaceted course in Cortina throughout her final heats, while forcing her opponents in the head-to-head action into several mistakes.
This was perhaps best exemplified in the big final, where her competitor Julie Zogg (SUI) crashed heavily after cutting a gate too close near the final stretch, giving Ledecka an easy run to the finish line for the victory as well as the lead in the parallel World Cup standings.
“It was great racing out there today,” said a pleased Ledecka from the finish area, “The course was well-prepared and I think (it was) the same for everyone all night. But it’s a much different course than Carezza, with the flat part here, and much icier. I like both courses, but tonight I had good runs all the way through competition and was able to take the win.”
The win was her second podium on the season after finishing runner-up at the season-opener in Carezza, and put her ahead of Carezza winner Nadya Ocher (ITA) on the 2017/18 leaderboard.
Zogg’s second-place result matched her performance from last season’s Cortina PSL competition, and gave her two podiums in three competitions dating back to last season.
Third place for the ladies was last year’s winner in the Cortina PSL event, as Sabine Schoeffmann (AUT) was able to out-duel Gloria Kotnik (SLO) in the small final.
Fischnaller reigns as the king of Cortina
In the men’s competition, top qualifier Galmaniri and Cortina d’Ampezzo’s most decorated competitor Fischnaller (with five podiums) met in the type of dream big final that couldn’t have been scripted better, with last season’s overall winner facing down the man who has never missed the podium on this particular home soil race.
In that big final Fischnaller pulled out to an early half-second lead after Galmarini caught one of the gates fat in the top section of the course. Galmarini, however, battled hard, closing the gap on Fischnaller through the course’s make-or-break bottom flat section. As it turned out, though, it would be too little, too late for Galmaniri, and the 38-year-old Fischnaller would match his PSL win from last season, taking the PGS victory and earning his fifth podium in five starts at Cortina.
“I don’t know why, but I always have a really good feeling here,” Fischnaller laughed, getting interrupted during the interview for a kiss from his girlfriend, “It was a lot of fun today, even though it was difficult snow conditions. And I couldn’t train properly because of some issues with my back, so this is a big surprise. But I guess when it’s time for pushing I can still do it!”
Galmarini’s second-place result put him back on the podium after a disappointing ninth-place finish in Carezza, where he was the also the top qualifier but was beaten in the 1/8 finals. It was the 32-year-old’s 12 career podium.
Third place on the day went to Benny Karl (AUT), as the four-time world champion faced down his teammate Andreas Prommegger in an incredibly close small final heat, with Karl emerging the third-place winner by just .10 seconds, for his second podium already this season and top spot on the men’s parallel World Cup rankings, just 40 points ahead of Fischnaller.
After Cortina, the FIS Snowboard alpine World Cup breaks for the holidays, returning to competition early in the new year with action in Bad Gastein (AUT), with parallel slalom and parallel slalom team events taking place from January 8-9, 2019.
QUICK LINKS:
Ladies’ podium runs highlights BIG FINAL / SMALL FINAL
Men’s podium highlight videos BIG FINAL / SMALL FINAL
Photos (credit Miha Matavz/FIS Snowboard)
