Henrik Kristoffersen takes emotional win at Madonna di Campiglio
Slalom World Cup holder beats fellow Norwegian Sebastian Foss-Solevaag with home skier Alex Vinatzer third.
Alpine Skiing
An inspired second run saw Henrik Kristoffersen take a third Madonna de Campiglio slalom victory on Tuesday night (22 December).
Norway's slalom Crystal Globe holder was only 12th on the first run, but made the best of his way home on a course rutting up badly as the evening progressed.
It was an emotional triumph for Kristoffersen who fought back the tears after clinching his first Alpine Ski World Cup win of the season, and later revealed he had been low on confidence in recent weeks.
His compatriot Sebastian Foss-Solevaag was second (+0.33s) after going quickest on the first run with Italy's Alex Vinatzer just one-hundredth behind in third.
Another one-hundredth back was yesterday's runner-up Manuel Feller, but Clement Noel (+0.44s) in fifth was left cursing a bad error just a handful of gates from the finish line which probably cost him victory.
Afterwards Kristoffersen told FIS, "The last three weeks have been tough, for sure. I think I've never been this emotional after a win before because I've had times where I've struggled in my career... but come race season I've always been able to pull it together.
"I think the season started off good with a fifth place and Lech was good, and since then it's been terrible. And skiing is my life. I have a family and skiing and that's my life, I don't have anything else. When that goes tough, it's challenging especially when you've won so many races before.
"Everyone starts thinking, only after three races, 'Is he finished now? What's wrong?' and everything. It's really emotional, even with only one good run, to win a race and to succeed, it's amazing." - Henrik Kristoffersen
Alexis Pinturault finished tied for sixth with fellow Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange and Germany's Linus Strasser, extending his lead in the overall World Cup standings over Aleksander Aamodt Kilde to 65 points.
Monday's Alta Badia winner Ramon Zenhaeusern was second after the first run but ended up tied for 13th as he struggled like so many on the steepest section of the second run.
For the second day in succession, Sweden's Kristoffer Jakobsen was quickest on the second run and moved up from 26th place to 10th overall.
For Kristoffersen, this was his 22nd career World Cup win and his 18th in slalom.
The technical skiers have something of a break with the night slalom in Zagreb taking place on 6 January.
The next men's World Cup event is the Bormio downhill next Monday (28 December).