The Italians out in full force, Lara Gut-Behrami on the podium

Marta Bassino skied a fine race to win the second downhill in Crans-Montana, in an exuberant atmosphere on Saturday. The Italian beat her compatriot Federica Brignone,andalso Lara Gut-Behrami, who finished on her 13th podium this winter.

The Swiss flags were out in force in Crans-Montana on Saturday, but the Italians were not to be outdone…and their flags were needed to celebrate an outstanding performance by the Italians on the Mont Lachaux piste. Marta Bassino dominated the second downhill in the Valais resort with a near-perfect run. Starting with the number 3 bib, the 27-year-old put her technical skills to good use in order to claim her first victory in the discipline.

Marta Bassino from Val d’Aosta finished 0.54 in front of her compatriot Federica Brignone, who despite starting with bib number 13, managed to add a new chapter to the story of her love affair with Crans-Montana by claiming her 8th podium finish in the resort. Since 2017, the 33-year-old has always finished on the podium here (with just one exception, in 2022). With this result, she also strengthens her third place in the overall World Cup rankings.

Lara Gut-Behrami is still in the lead in the overall classification, although she was tired on Saturday and showed a few flaws. She nevertheless claimed her 13th podium this winter, finishing 1.11 behind the winner, and she also takes the lead in the World Cup downhill rankings ahead of Sofia Goggia, who has been forced to end her season. The skier from Ticino could well walk away with four Globes at the end of the winter (!): the overall, downhill, Super-G and the Giant.

There were surprises from a few competitors on Saturday, including a fourth place for the astonishing Bosnian Elvedina Muzaferija, who just missed the podium by 0.11, sealing her first ever World Cup top 10 on her favourite piste, as well as Laura Pirovano, who ensured that three Italians finished in the top 5.

The day after her fantastic 2nd place, Jasmine Flury didn’t manage to repeat her feat. The world champion only managed 19^th place this time. Stephanie Jenal (24^th), Noémie Kolly (25^th) and Delia Durrer (29^th) finished further back. Priska Nufer (38^th), Jasmina Suter (39^th) and Michelle Gisin (40^th) also lagged behind.

DEPREZ-DUBUIS photo / Videos: SkiActu