“Finally, now it all came together”

Today’s race on the Chuenisbärgli was one of the most exhilarating races on the men’s tour so far this season.

Undoubtedly the highlight of the weekend was Johannes Strolz (AUT). Starting with bib 38, Strolz clawed his way up the leader board in the first run to finish seventh, 0.17 seconds behind the top pace, already an impressive showing. In the second run, Strol put in an exceptional run and sat in the leader box as the rest of the field came down in the red. In the end, his second run withstood the pressure and he hung on for his first career World Cup victory. 

Emotional and in disbelief at the leader board, Strolz stated, “finally, now it all came together.”

Manuel Feller, who was second in yesterday’s giant slalom, once again put in another strong run to claim his first slalom podium in Adelboden ending in second-place. Linus Strasser, who was second in last year’s slalom in Adelboden and started the second run in 16th, fought his way back to end in third.

Coming into the race, both Sebastian Foss-Solevaag (NOR) and Clément Noel (FRA) were the clear favourites. Nonetheless, today was not their day. Starting with bib 1 and 3 respectively, both racers failed to finish their run with Foss-Solevaag crashing just before the finish and Noel missing a gate, leaving the field wide open.

At the end of the first run, Austrian teammates, Manuel Feller and Fabio Gstrein share the lead, placing 0.05 seconds ahead of Luca Aerni (SUI) and 0.09 seconds ahead of the two-time winner, Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR). Both Gstrein and Aerni, they failed to complete their second run and Kristoffersen placed 12th.