Henrik Kristoffersen claimed today his first World Cup victory of the season, and the first one for the Van Deer Skis, Hirscher's ski brand, in the Night Slalom in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
Kristoffersen laid the foundation for his 29th World Cup victory and 77th podium in the first run, and confirm it later in a second run under brutally difficult conditions.
Kristoffersen has won the last three slalom World Cup events held in the Bavarian twin Town (two in February 2022 and today). He is now tied with Alberto Tomba on a record three slaloms wins here (1993-1995).
With 22 wins Henrik Kristoffersen is fourth in the all-time list for most Slalom victories in the men's World Cup, behind Ingemar Stenmark (40), Alberto Tomba (35) and Marcel Hirscher (32).
The Norwegian is the fourth man to win a Slalom race in the World Cup in at least 10 different years, after Ingemar Stenmark (13), Alberto Tomba (12), and Marcel Hirscher (10).
“I was pretty calm at the start actually. I thought the second run, the conditions were rough but not so bad. I have skied in worse. There were some gates that were really nice to ski and I took pretty good advantage of that, skiing smart and not risking too much”, Kristoffersen said.
“After three second places in a row, it is good to win. I just tried to do the things that make me ski faster. I tried to focus on the technique, on the tactical stuff in the course and that’s it”, he added.
Manuel Feller has finished in second position 1.22 seconds behind the Norwegian. It's Feller 18th podium in the World Cup, the 12th one in the Slalom discipline.
“That was definitely one of the toughest races this season. I fought until the finish line. I am super happy with my second place and scored good points. In the second run, it was easier than in the first run, but it was also more strenuous", Feller said.
Clement Noël rounded out the podium in third place +1.46 off the pace of Kristoffersen. It's the 18th podium in the World Cup for the 25-year-old French skier. Noël is in second place for most World Cup slalom podiums among French male skiers, only behind Jean Noël Augert (21).
“It feels really nice because I was a little bit stressful before the second run because I knew that I had to get to the finish line. I knew I could be fast in these conditions but mistakes are really, really difficult to avoid in these conditions because you have to push but you also have to be really solid”, Noël said.