Brignone second in Super-G in St. Anton ahead of Bassino. Vince Gut-Behrami-Corriere.it

Lara Gut-Behrami arrives to break the eggs in the blue basket, but in the second super-G in St.Anton, which the Swiss champion brushes off brilliantly for the 36th victory (in 70 podiums) of her career, there is also a Grand’Italia. Federica Brignone, triumphant on Saturday 14 January, misses the encore by 15 cents, but comes second and becomes the leader of the specialty; Marta Bassino takes a decisive step forward compared to the eighth place of the first outing and takes the lowest podium, stealing it from Elena Curtoni. an excellent team result (in points, in the first 30, there are also Roberta Melesi, Karoline Pichler and Laura Pirovano), confirming the feeling of pink Italy with this hybrid discipline between fast and technical tests, and also a verdict that produces a reshuffling in the classification of the specialty: the red bib passes from Curtoni to Brignone, which stands at +17 – 209 points against 192 – on Gut-Behrami; Elena instead slips to third place (190) while the Norwegian Mowinckel, who on Saturday had caught the Valtellinese at the top of the rankings, disengaged from the elite group finishing only in eighth place.

This time we managed to run on the complete track, but the weather conditions deteriorated abruptly when a very strong wind mounted: race interrupted at the forty-seventh competitor, but valid because the number of starts was sufficient. From the beginning the main problem was that of soft snow. Lara Gut-Behrami, who went down with number 5, set a point of reference that immediately appeared solid and difficult to surpass. Elena Curtoni came close to her (52 cents), but was Federica Brignone the one who risked overtaking her while Marta Bassino wedged herself into third place 4 cents from the time of the Aosta Valley.

Lara hadn’t been perfect at the top, but I was able – in her words – to make up for it with a truly excellent finish. She made the difference exactly where Federica, in race 1, had ruled everything. This time Brignone appeared less determined and, paradoxically, she was not helped by having jumped better at the Ice Fall than on Saturday, at which point the slope reaches 80% gradient. It may be that she thought she was fast and for this reason she managed more in the following stretches: she, on the other hand, was faster on the previous occasion because after the drool on the jump she had turned on the turbo, convinced she had nothing left to lose . It remains a great result and the certification of an optimal form.

Federica is now the blue not only with more victories, but also with more podiums: 52, one behind a great ex such as Isolde Kostner. In the mixed male and female classification in history, however, she is now alone in third place: Alberto Tomba is first with 88, Gustavo Thoeni second with 69. , he reiterates. Better to deal with the present and the answers it is getting from the track, going through the doubts and questions that continue to accompany it here and there: At the start I was wondering if I would be able to repeat Saturday’s race: oh yes, I always ask myself questions. But now I’m happy, with the results and the way I’m skiing, even if this time I should have been more daring. Too bad, but it remains a great weekend.

A weekend with a view on the next one in Cortina, where Italy will find Sofia Goggia again and where she will arrive in force because Bassino’s message is also important (I’m surprised by the podium: I thought the soft snow had negatively affected me) and because, even if dethroned from the super-G throne, Elena Curtoni in turn on the ball: I’m returning the feeling I had in December, if I’m not mistaken I’m also with the best.