Meillard, who was second at halftime, secured his third World Cup victory with 0.89 seconds on Straßer. Before that, the 27-year-old had achieved success in the parallel RTL in Chamonix 2020 and in the giant slalom in Schladming last year. Third place went to the Norwegian world champion Henrik Kristoffersen (+ 1.17). The top trio also benefited from the failure of the French Olympic champion Clement Noel, who was leading at halftime.
Johannes Strolz, the best Austrian in fourth place, was only eleven hundredths short of the podium. Only 0.07 seconds behind the Vorarlberg native, Feller finished fifth and had to say goodbye to his dream of winning the slalom ball early. However, the decision has probably only been postponed, because the only remaining competitor Straßer is going to the penultimate slalom of the season next Sunday (9.30 a.m. or 12.30 p.m. live on ORF1) in Kranjska Gora, 169 points behind Feller.
Strolz shows strong signs of life
Johannes Strolz achieved by far his best result of the season in fourth place.
Despite the good cards, Feller was clearly disappointed about missing the first match point in the ORF interview. “It’s not a nice feeling when you’re at the start like that, you get all the conditions. So it would be nice if I had checked it off today. On the other hand, it’s also something cool for the ski fans to see a match like this,” said the four-time season winner and tipped his hat to Straßer: “He’s not letting up yet. Of course it’s a bit easier as a hunter, but hats off to his performance. Now it’s time to start again with a bad feeling.”
But Feller tried to take the positives from North America with him to the last races in Slovenia and the final race in Saalbach-Hinterglemm. “Nevertheless, you can be happy with a top five result. It wasn’t necessarily my situation, I had a really hard time in the second round, and things didn’t come together in the first round anyway. “You have to be happy with that,” said the 31-year-old.
Strolz also had a very positive assessment after moving up nine places in the second round. “I am very relieved. I wanted to finish and see the green light. That dawned on me. I skied very well in the lower part again,” said the Vorarlberg native, “in the upper part it is really extremely hard and unsettled. From the middle the snow becomes completely different, it is softer, you have to adjust brutally quickly. The material played an important role.”
Pramstaller scores points for the first time
The Austrians showed a strong team at the end of the second installment of the North American races this season. Fabio Gstrein also made it into the top ten in tenth place, Dominik Raschner ended up in 18th place. Michael Matt also scored World Cup points in 26th place. Only Adrian Pertl was just a spectator in the decision: the Carinthian was the only ÖSV runner who dropped out in the first round.
Pramstaller surprises with 22nd place
Kilian Pramstaller qualified for the second round for the first time and scored points in 22nd place.
A small winner from an Austrian perspective was Kilian Pramstaller. The 21-year-old from East Tyrol qualified for a second round for the first time in his seventh World Cup race with the high number 54. Pramstaller held his nerve in the decision and took home his first points in 22nd place. “It’s really cool to have been there for the second round. The first points feel good,” said the future hope in the ORF interview.
Perfect Swiss weekend
The real winner Meillard crowned a dream weekend with his premiere in the slalom. In the two giant slalom races in Aspen, the Swiss took second place behind his compatriot Marco Odermatt. “It’s a really cool weekend,” said the 27-year-old after ensuring that the races in the US state of Colorado remained firmly in Swiss hands. “It was difficult up until then, but now I can drive freely, and that’s what the result shows.”
Meillard wins Aspen slalom
The Swiss Loic Meillard won a slalom for the first time in Aspen.
Second-placed Straßer was also more than satisfied with the race. “I am totally happy. Getting on the podium isn’t something you can take for granted. It was a great second round. In the first one I felt bad, but I rode well, unfortunately I made a mistake at the bottom. But the second one was a very good run,” said the German, who won the classics in Kitzbühel and Schladming this year.
The final race of the competition in Aspen started an hour late. After a snowstorm raged overnight in the very part of the Rocky Mountains in which the US luxury ski resort is located, the organizers decided to postpone the start. By joining forces, the piste was able to be cleared of deep snow.
