On Tuesday, after the speed events in Cortina, the Alpine Ski World Cup will continue in Italy with one Giant Slalom race on the demanding ERTA slope in S. Vigilio di Marebbe at the Kronplatz.
Kronplatz is a ski resort in the Dolomites in South Tyrol, Italy. The holiday region of Kronplatz comprises the beautiful Pustertal Valley and some side valleys such as Ahrntal/Valle Aurina, Gsieser Tal/Val Casies, Antholzertal/Valle di Anterselva and part of Gadertal/Val Badia.
The ski area has 32 modern lifts serving 119 km of pistes catering for all abilities. Kronplatz is one of the 12 ski areas of Dolomiti Superski, a world-famous network of 1.200 km of slopes. The ski pass includes also the famous Sella Ronda.
Kronplatz (ITA)
January 30th Giant Slalom / Women 1st run 10:30 / 2nd run 13:30 CET
Start Elevation: 1605m
Finish Elevation: 1200 m
Vertical Drop: 405m
Distance: 1325m
Average slope: 32 %
Max. slope: 61 %
Min. slope: 22 %
In 2019, after finishing fifth in 2017 and failing to complete the first run in 2018 at the Alpine Ski World Cup in Kronplatz, American Mikaela Shiffrin proved that the third time was the charm on Tuesday as she claimed a decisive 1.21-second victory over Tessa Worley of France.
Marta Bassino finished third in front of the home Italian crowd, matching the very same result she secured at the venue in 2017.
In 2021 Tessa Worley won in Kronplatz her first World Cup race since 2018 when she won in the Opening race in Sölden. Worley skied the fastest second run to move from fifth place after the first run into first place, finishing 0.27 seconds ahead of Lara Gut-Behrami.
Marta Bassino completed the podium. She had to settle for third place 0.73 seconds behind Worley.
In 2022 Sara Hector won the Giant Slalom in Kronplatz. The Swedish was super consistent and extremely aggressive, and despite a big mistake in the middle section, she was able to edge Petra Vlhova by 0.15 seconds, who had set the best time in the first run.
Tessa Worley finished in third place, +0.52 seconds behind Hector.
Last season, Mikaela Shiffrin won the first Giant Slalom held in Kronplatz and claimed her 83rd World Cup victory. She became the most successful skier in women’s World Cup history. Lara Gut-Behrami finished in second place 0.45 seconds behind Shiffrin. Federica Brignone finished in third place 1.43 seconds off the pace.
One day after breaking the Women's World Cup Wins record, Mikaela Shiffrin won also the second Giant Slalom in Kronplatz. He laid down two exceptional runs to finish ahead of Ragnhild Mowinckel (+0.82) and Olympic champion Sara Hector (+1.19).
Sara Hector returned in Jasna to the top of the podium in Giant Slalom after setting the best time on both runs. The last time she won a race was in Kronplatz in 2022.
Hector was super consistent and extremely aggressive on a difficult and exigent Luková slope. She was the only one able to cope with the icy conditions in the first run. Mikaela Shiffrin finished in second place +1.52 seconds behind Hector. Alice Robinson rounded up the podium in third place +2.71 seconds behind the Swede skier.
It was her 5th win in a Giant Slalom race in the Alpine Ski World Cup. It's his 15th podium in the World Cup and her 14th in Giant Slalom. This season she achieved her first podium in Slalom in Flachau.
In the 2020-2021 winter season an injury deprived her of becoming the second Swedish winner of the Women's Giant Slalom Crystal Globe, after Anja Pärson (2002-2003, 2003-2004, 2005-2006).
Hector won the Olympic Giant Slalom gold in Beijing.
Federica Brignone won the two Giant Slaloms held in Tremblant (December 2 and 3). She became the oldest woman to win a World Cup Giant Slalom race. The Italian skier achieved 10 of her 24 World Cup victories in Giant Slalom. Also, 33 of her 62 podiums came in the same discipline.
Federica Brignone is joint-second alongside Gustav Thöni (both 24) for most World Cup wins by an Italian alpine skier, behind only Alberto Tomba (50).
Italian women won at least one World Cup Giant Slalom event in each of the last seven seasons (2015-2016 to 2021-2022).
Back in 2020, Federica Brignone Grabs the Overall, Giant Slalom, and Alpine Combined Globes. Brignone can be proud to be the first Italian woman to conquer the Overall Globe. Brignone joined the Italian-Overall club composed of Piero Gros, Gustav Thoeni, and Alberto Tomba on the Men's field.
Federica Brignone finished in second place in the Giant Slalom in Sölden and Lienz, and third in Kranjska Gora.
Lara Gut-Behrami won the first two Giant Slaloms of the season in Sölden and Killington. The 32-year-old skier from Ticino became the first Swiss woman to win back-to-back World Cup Giant Slalom races since Sonja Nef did it in 2001. It's her seventh win in the Giant Slalom discipline.
Gut-Behrami became the third woman to claim at least one World Cup win in 13 different seasons, after Renate Götschl (14), and Lindsey Vonn (13).
Last Sunday the 32-year-old Swiss celebrated her 41st win in the Alpine Ski World Cup. It's her 83rd podium in the World Cup, 22 of them were in Giant Slalom.
She finished in the Top-10 in 25 of the last 27 World Cup Giant Slaloms. She made it to the podium 10 times and won 3 times in the last 27 World Cup Giant Slaloms.
Gut-Behrami is leading the Giant Slalom standings, 25 points ahead of Federica Brignone.
Marta Bassino finished last season in third place in the Giant Slalom standings. She celebrated her first career World Cup podium, a third place, in the Giant Slalom in Sölden on 22 October 2016.
In 2021Bassino won the discipline title with the Italian emerging as the dominant force. Bassino became the fourth Italian skier to win the Giant Slalom Crystal Globe after Deborah Compagnoni did it in 1997, Denise Karbon in 2008, and Federica Brignone in 2020.
She was on the podium 28 times in the World Cup, 20 of them in Giant Slalom. She won six races all in Giant Slalom.
Marta Bassino finished on the Giant Slalom podium four times in Kranjska Gora. Bassino's last World Cup Giant Slalom podium finish was in Kranjska Gora on January 7, 2023.
Katharina Liensberger is the latest Austrian woman to stand on the Giant Slalom World Cup podium: a third place in Lienz on December 28, 2019.
Austria has won a record 93 Women's World Cup Giant Slalom events, but its most recent victory was more than seven years ago when Eva-Maria Brem won in Jasná on March 7, 2016.
In Jasna, Alice Robinson finished for a second time on the podium this season. She has won 3 Giant Slalom events in the Alpine Ski World Cup and was in the podium seven times.