Henrik Kristoffersen breaks Alta Badia hoodoo and claims first GS win of season

Updated 22/12/2019 at 13:50 GMT

Giant Slalom World Champion Henrik Kristoffersen broke his curse at Alta Badia and finally won his first GS race of the season on Sunday.

Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen reacts after winning the Men's Giant Slalom of the FIS Alpine World Cup on December 22, 2019 in Alta Badia, Dolomites

Image credit: Getty Images

Kristoffersen, 25, has had an inconsistent start to the season thus far and he has regularly had to produce some storming second runs in order to bail himself out.

The Norwegian was solid if not spectacular in the first run in Italy before doing what he needed to do in order to get his first Giant Slalom win of the new season.

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“It’s great for sure but this was a tough day, a really rough day," he said afterwards.

“In the end we skied really good, I gave it everything I had in the second run.”

The win comes after multiple times finishing just off the pace, most notably to Marcel Hirscher who was dominant at this course.

“After coming close here one year behind Marcel, it’s good to finally win at this historic place,” Kristoffersen said.

Kristoffersen: This was a really tough day

“No-one skies more on salt than the Norwegians so I think that’s a little bit the reason I like it on salt.

“This was not even salt, it was insanely rough the whole thing. I guess I’m a pretty okay skier.”

Victory now means that he goes top of both the Slalom and Giant Slalom standings ahead of Alexis Pinturault, his main rival for the overall crystal globe.

France’s Cyprien Sarrazin was the story of the day, coming from 22nd to finish second, a remarkable effort after coming back from injury whilst Slovenia’s Zan Kranjec rounded off the podium.

Filipe Zubcic of Croatia was involved in one of the more astonishing moments of the day, as he nearly collided with an official on his way down the course.