Matthias Mayer defies slalom specialists to take shock combined title at Wengen

ByEurosport

Updated 17/01/2020 at 16:21 GMT

Matthias Mayer took combined World Cup victory in Wengen, beating favourite Alexis Pinturault into second place by 0.07 seconds.

Mayer, a downhill specialist and the 2014 Olympic champion in that discipline, set the fastest time in the speed event.

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And the Austrian took advantage of the first run on a technical slalom course to hold on to his lead ahead of a string of slalom specialists.

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Pinturault set the fastest time in the slalom, but didn’t do enough to overhaul Mayer, while fellow Frenchman Victor Muffat-Jeandet finished third after a strong slalom run.

Storming Pinturault run not enough to overhaul Mayer in Wengen

Victory was Mayer’s seventh World Cup title of his career, but a first outside of the speed events – downhill and Super G.

Mayer’s win also ended the dominance of slalom specialists in the combined World Cup events, with the 29-year-old becoming the first speed specialist to win a combined since 2016.

Mayer lays down gauntlet with huge downhill run

Pinturault’s second place was enough to take him to the top of the overall standings for the season.

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