Perfect, amazing Federica Brignone, with victory number 24 of her career, excellent Sofia Goggia, third. For the second time in the season the two Italians share the World Cup podium with the Aosta Valley girl winning the Val d’Isere super-G which sees the Bergamo girl on the third step.
Brignone in Val d’Isere designs a test at the limits of perfection, completing the French route designed by the Italian coach Paolo Stefanini in 1’21″58 to guarantee his ninth personal victory in super-G, the twenty-fourth overall to once again lead on Goggia herself at the top of the ranking of Italian multiple winners in the top circuit. For Brignone this is the third pearl of the season after the double in giant slalom in Mont Tremblant.
Sofia Goggia’s performance is slightly less clean, especially in the upper part of the Oreiller-Killy: the Bergamo native, winner of the first super-G of the season, reaches the finish line 0″59 behind her teammate for a third place which allows her to maintain the specialty leader’s bib. The tally of podiums for Goggia thus rises to 51.
Between the two Italians, on the second step of the podium, is the Norwegian Kajsa Vickhoff Lie who pays a gap of 0″44 from Brignone, this is the fourth podium of her career for the Scandinavian.
Laura Pirovano’s performance was also very positive, seventh at 1″80: the thirty-year-old tackles the French track first and, despite having no references, manages to draw positive lines that lead her to the best result of her career in the specialty, where she had never been better ninth in the World Cup. Twenty-first place therefore for Roberta Melesi with 3″39 behind Brignone with Teresa Runggaldier who with 24th place greets her debut in the points in the World Cup; 30th place therefore for Nicol Delago.
However, Marta Bassino’s race ended prematurely, as she left the track in the upper part of the track, a fate that unites her with Monica Zanoner and Nadia Delago, as well as the big names Lara Gut Behrami, and Mikaela Shiffrin.
Brignone: “Everything went well for me”
“Everything went well, a great day. My strength today was to push after every corner and attack as hard as I could.” Federica Brignone is aware that she had a great performance on Orellier-Killy, a performance that gave her her twenty-fourth success in the World Cup, her third of the season.
“The track was not easy, the snow conditions were different at every turn, with more or less ice depending on the points of the track. Being able to put on such a performance on such complicated terrain fills me with satisfaction. It’s not easy to do a race like this, today I did it and this is certainly one of the best periods of my career – he continues – Winning so many races is crazy for our country and this has been happening for years. This is what I want to say, I don’t look at the record because every race is a story in itself: this season every day is giving us something fantastic.”
Despite a test bordering on perfection, at the finish line Brignone stated: “We must continue to improve. Today I had a good race, almost perfect, but I am aware that in the next race I will have to improve further, without resting on my laurels.”
Goggia: “I’m keeping this third place, very positive”
Sofia Goggia is satisfied: “A truly beautiful super-G. I attacked, but I was a little too dirty. Congratulations to Federica, she must have brushed as well as she knows how. I’m keeping this third place, very positive – she comments – I followed a different preparation than in previous years for the Super-G and I firmly believe it was the right choice, also from a future Olympic perspective. I perhaps lack a little confidence in speed but the month of January will allow me to work on it. Now a bit of recovery, then in the giant slalom in Lienz.”
Best career result in super-G for Laura Pirovano, seventh. “I’m happy with the placing, even if in retrospect I’m beating myself up a bit for not having dared more in the central part, but the Super-G is also this, instinct and the ability to know how to read the right trajectories without testing. I’m in a good place along the growth path; in every race a little piece is missing and I’m progressively putting all the various pieces in place.”
