Stefan Brennsteiner Claims First Alpine Ski World Cup Victory in the Giant Slalom in Copper Mountain

The Alpine Ski World Cup Giant Slalom in Copper Mountain brought another first-time winner. After 77 starts, 34-year-old Stefan Brennsteiner achieved his first World Cup triumph in the second Giant Slalom of the season in Colorado. Thanks to a superb first run, he beat Henrik Kristoffersen by just 0.95 seconds. Croatian Filip Zubcic rounded up the podium in third place, 1.00 seconds off the pace.

Brennsteiner has previously achieved four World Cup podium finishes in the Giant Slalom discipline: third place in Bansko in February 2021, third place in Kranjska Gora in March 2021, second place in Kranjska Gora in March 2022, and third place in Val d'Isère in December 2024.

"I’ve had some tough moments in my life, but also some wonderful ones outside of sports. You always have to put sports into perspective a bit, and I’ve managed to do that in recent years. That’s why I think things are working better now. There’s not quite as much pressure involved anymore. And I can handle the pressure that does come better,” said Brennsteiner in an ORF interview.

"I was pretty excited yesterday when I heard bib number one because the conditions are amazing down here, and to ski on such a course with number one is one of the most beautiful things that you can imagine in ski racing. My first run was a little bit easier with number one; there were no tracks, so it's not that exhausting. But the second run, the last five or six gates, I was thinking: just go on the edge and just stay high and withhold the pressure," he said.

It was another successful day for the Austrian team. Marco Schwarz came fourth, missing out on his second podium finish of the season by just two hundredths of a second.

Kristoffersen was delighted to claim a podium place after coming seventh in the first Giant Slalom in Soelden, which was followed by 13th and 12th places in the Slalom events in Levi and Gurgl. He stood on the Giant Slalom podium 37 times, achieving a total of 96 Alpine Ski World Cup podiums.

"It's a very long Giant Slalom at this altitude. Coming straight from Europe and the slalom, Gurgl is pretty high, but not that high. Levi, on the other hand, is not high at all. Having two days of training here before racing such a long Giant Slalom is one of the most demanding things I've done in my career," said Kristoffersen.

Filip Zubcic, whose last World Cup podium finish came in Adelboden in January 2024, was happy with his performance.

"It was a really tough one. I needed this podium so badly. Last season, I was close so many times, but I couldn't reach the podium. Maybe the start of the season was not the best this year. "My first run wasn't good, but I saw the course setting in the second one and knew it was right for me. I took my opportunity, and now I'm back on the podium," he said.

For top favourite Marco Odermatt, the race ended in the first run. The Swiss skier, who won the Giant Slalom season opener in Soelden and the Super-G in Copper Mountain on Friday, slid off the course after posting the fastest second intermediate time following an error involving his inside ski. This was Odermatt's first DNF in the World Cup since the Giant Slalom in Beaver Creek last December.

"A classic inside ski error on aggressive snow in Colorado can happen, but it’s a shame. If you don’t ski cleanly there, you’re out," said Odermatt.