Norway's Sebastian Foss-Solevaag takes maiden World Cup win in Flachau slalom
The Norwegian is the sixth different winner in six slalom races as he saw off Austria's Marco Schwarz and France's overall World Cup leader Alexis Pinturault.
Alpine Skiing
Sebastian Foss-Solevaag claimed his first ever AlpineSkiing World Cup victory in the Flachau slalom on Sunday (17 January).
The Norwegian could hardly believe it himself, falling to the snow at the end of Run 2, overwhelmed with the emotion of seeing his name at the top of the board.
He'd come so close, finishing in the top 10 eight out of nine times last season, and finally he's No.1.
The 29-year-old did it in style too, winning both Run 1 and Run 2 for a 1:46.23 total.
That was 0.76 sec faster than Austria's Marco Schwarz. Alexis Pinturault finished on the slalom podium for the first time this season in third.
Foss-Solevaag's win came as some good news after the Attacking Vikings had it confirmed that Norway's World Cup holder Kilde suffered an ACL tear that will require surgery, keeping him off the snow for the rest of the season.
In this 6th round of slalom racing, the challenging Hermann Maier track claimed four DNFs and yesterday's winner Manuel Feller lost it on the rollers near the top of the hill, finishing in 17th.
But on the day it was all about Sebastian Foss-Solevaag:
"It takes time, I have been patient and I've been working hard for a long time," he told FIS after the race.
“It’s a team victory, we are the Attacking Vikings, we are working together, I wouldn’t have won without any of the coaches and teammates. It shows that we have a good team spirit.”
His win made it 6 different winners in 6 slaloms:
“It’s pretty cool this year. It’s a lot of guys who are skiing fast, you saw it a little bit last year, everybody’s going all-in, it’s a really fun race”
Can anyone stop Alexis?
Alexis Pinturault changed up the strategy the Flachau slope, staying controlled on the upper more technical part of the course and amping it up on the final turns, really attacking the finishing line.
It gave him his first podium place this season and he looks unstoppable, now streaking ahead at the top of the overall standings on 778 points.
The closest to him is Kilde on 560, with Marco Odermatt on 501 and Marco Schwarz on 466 points.