Pinjeiro-Brotens wins World Cup giant slalom in Soelden six years after win for another nation
Brazilian skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the men's World Cup giant slalom in Soelden, Austria. Six years ago he won on the same slope while representing Norway.
Brazilian alpine skier Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the men's giant slalom at the World Cup stage in the Austrian resort of Soelden on Sunday. The World Cup is the top-level international alpine skiing circuit, and this was the opening stage of the new season. It was the ninth World Cup victory of his career.
His combined time was 1:44.72. Swiss skier Loic Meillard took second place, 0.48 seconds behind. Another Swiss, Marco Odermatt, was third, 0.49 seconds off the pace. Just one hundredth of a second separated the two Swiss racers.
A return to winning in Soelden
In October 2020 in Soelden, Pinheiro Braathen, then representing Norway, took both his first victory and his first podium in World Cup races. Now he repeated the feat under the Brazilian flag. He led after the first run and kept the lead in the second.
Other leading results
American River Radamus finished fourth, climbing from 15th place with the second-best time in the second run. Austria's Raphael Haaser was fifth, improving from 20th and posting the fastest second run of all. Germany's Fabian Gratz took sixth, 0.95 seconds behind. Another Austrian, Brennsteiner, dropped from third place to 11th.
Conditions
Because of strong wind, the start was moved lower, so the men's course was shorter than the women's. Competitors did not have equal conditions in the first run. The day before, American Paula Moltzan had won the first race of her career in the women's giant slalom.
