Alta Badia 2020: Ramon Zenhausern wins first slalom event of Alpine Skiing World Cup season

ByPete Hall

Updated 21/12/2020 at 14:48 GMT

In warm conditions in the Dolomites mountain range in Italy, Zenhausern set the pace, with rivals struggling as the snow conditions worsened, with his early time enough to take the first slalom event of the Alpine Skiing World Cup season. Austrian pair Manuel Feller and Marco Schwartz came second and third respectively.

Switzerland's Ramon Zenhausern won the first slalom event of the Alpine Skiing World Cup season in Alta Badia in Italy, denying an Austrian one-two.

Home favourite Alex Vinatzer, the 2019 world junior champion, led the way after the first run of the morning, before Swede Kristoffer Jakobsen set the early pace on the second run with an aggressive effort, despite having only been 27th fastest after the first run.

The warm conditions ensured the course was cutting up with every run, with the course getting slower and slower with each skier.

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However, a break allowed work to be done on the snow, and Austria’s Manuel Feller took advantage of the smoother run to take the lead with a flawless performance.

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'Switzerland turn the tables!' – Zenhausern triumphs in tough conditions

The Austrian team, who have not seen a winner in any slalom event this year, then went one-two with Marcus Schwarz going second, just 0.04 seconds behind Feller.

Zenhausern's lightning start to his run helped him sneak ahead by 0.08 seconds, and it was enough for the tall Swiss skier to take his fourth career slalom win, going from eighth to first position after the first run, ahead of Feller in second and Schwartz in third.

Vinatzer looked like he may snatch the win on the very last run, but some late errors saw him finish fourth.

The race was the opening event of the World Cup slalom season, round one of 11 on the tour, with the second race taking place on Tuesday.

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