Ski Racing World Cup Results Slalom 2012-13

A couple of great runs from Ivica Kostelic saw the Croation claim his first slalom victory of the season at the Slovenian resort of Kranjska Gora. The race was close to being cancelled due to heavy overnight rain, but Austrian Marcel Hirscher was one of those who was extremely happy to see it go ahead as his 2nd place and Felix Neureuther's straddled gate in the 1st run meant he claimed the World Cup slalom title with one race to go. Alexis Pinturault had produced a storming 1st run and the race was his to lose as he stood in the starting gate on the 2nd run with a healthy lead over Kostelic, but the Frenchman skied off the slope following a mistake. Mario Matt of Italy completed the podium.

It was the same 3 skiers on the podium in Kitzbuhel as the previous week in Wengen, only this time local hero Marcel Hirscher blitzed his German rival Felix Neureuther to delight the home fans on Kitzbuhel's Ganslernhang slalom slope. Two consistent runs from Ivica Kostelic reaffirmed the Croatian's growing confidence and return to form. The win was Hirscher's fourth victory in the last five races, and propelled him 134 points ahead of Neureuther in the race for the slalom title.

A great 2nd run from Felix Neureuther saw the German claim his first victory of the season at the Swiss resort of Wengen, thus preventing the World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher from winning his 4th slalom in a row, the Austrian being edged out into 2nd place by 0.21 seconds. Two fine runs from Ivica Kostelic saw the Croatian complete the podium places, just ahead of Manfred Moelgg. The result meant that Neureuther closed the gap on Hirscher in the slalom standings, but the Austrian still enjoys a healthy 114 point gap over his nearest rival, whilst Moelgg and Kostelic both moved up the table to 4th and 5th respectively. Andre Myhrer, 3rd in the standings was the main man to miss out, as he failed to score any points for the 2nd race running, following up his disqualification in the 2nd run at Adelboden by failing to complete the 1st run at Wengen.

Swedish star Andre Myhrer started the new season where he'd left off last season - by claiming victory in the slalom. The defending champion from last season, who had claimed the title in such dramatic circumstances at the season finale in Schladming last March, held off the challenge of Austrian superstar Marcel Hirscher by just 0.06 seconds to take the opening slalom of the season in the Finnish resort, the most northerly stop on the FIS alpine racing tour. Myhrer's fellow Swede Jens Byggmark completed the podium as these 3 racers all retained their positions from the 1st run in typically tricky conditions on the Levi Black course.

There was great news for British skiing as Dave Ryding picked up his first World Cup points by finishing in 26th place. Ryding, who hails from Pendle in Lancashire, was in 23rd place after the 1st run, just 1.29 seconds down on Myhrer, and held his nerve brilliantly on the 2nd run to finish only 2.51 seconds off the winning time and claim 5 points.