Ligety Seventh in Warm Adelboden
ADELBODEN, Switzerland (Jan. 10, 2015)—It was a warm day at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup in Adelboden, following a night of heavy rain. And even with the race crew working around the clock, the conditions were rough for the giant slalom. Fighting against the bumpy, salted course, Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) took seventh and Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV) 14th. Austria's Marcel Hirscher took the win.
Hirscher of Austria grabbed his sixth victory this season, beating the field by over a second. The Frenchman Alex Pinturault—with “Je Suis Charlie” written on his helmet—took second and Henrik Kristoffersen from Norway was third.
Although spectators could see many patches of green next to the course, the race did not meet the same fate as the simultaneously scheduled Bad Kleinkirchheim and the spectators turned out in droves. After a fun public bib draw the night before—in which the men entered the stage on a zipline—the men were excited for the race.
Tim Jitloff took 14th place in Adelboden. (Getty Images-Agence Zoom/Alain Grosclaude)
With a fifth place first run, Ligety was poised for the podium, but the bumpy conditions slowed him down second run. Disappointed in the finish, he sits in second in the fight for the overall globe.
Jitloff had a great morning in Adelboden, finishing in 13th first run, but had a wild ride second run with plenty of bobbles on the tough snow. The run sat him in 14th place overall, leaving his quest for a top-10 GS finish for another day.
Brennan Rubie (Salt Lake City, UT), Mark Engel (Truckee, CA), Kieffer Christianson (Anchorage, AK) and David Chodounsky (Crested Butte, CO) did not qualify for the second run.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Ligety took seventh and Jitloff 14th
- The Adelboden GS race re-airs on Universal Sports at 7:30 p.m. EST.
- The tech team stays in Adelboden for slalom on Sunday before heading to Wengen.
- In the last 10 men's GS World Cups, Hirscher has won five races, Ligety four and Felix Neureuther (GER) one.
- Adelboden makes three GS wins in a row for Hirscher, in addition to Are and Alta Badia.
QUOTES
Sasha Rearick, men's head coach
Yesterday had perfect ice and hard snow. Today got softer, but they did a good job with the salt. It was an easy course set and fun to watch. People were going out because of the snow would break down, which made it harder for the later guys to put in fast times.
Jitloff did a good job—more relaxed, more the way he does in training. He could have pushed a little harder to be clean at the top of the turn, but in general I’m really pleased with how he’s skiing.
Ted needs to trust himself. He’s one of the best GS skiers in the world. He needs to express himself on skis the way he knows he can do it.
RESULTS
Official results