Eighth after the opening run, Germany's Linus Strasser, didn't let anyone prevent him from earning her first Slalom World Cup victory. It was the first time ever that a German claimed the victory in Zagreb and the first non-parallel race podium for him (previously he was on the podium in three City Events, once at the top of it). His previous best result in slalom was a fifth position in Schladming in 2015.
It was a fairy tale second run for Strasser, who sat in eighth place nearly a second off the pace from first-run leader Clement Noel (FRA) and looked to be well out of contention for a podium, much less a victory.
But Clement Noel, Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, and the rest of the first-run leaders struggled to hang onto their leads in the second run as most lost a lot of time in the bottom third of course. Noel closed the race in seventh place.
"Normally you have a big crowd here cheering you on, but today it was just the ski family. I’m happy to win my first slalom race, but it was strange not to be able to share it with the public", said Strasser.
The previous German to win a Slalom was Felix Neureuther in Levi in November 2017.
Austrian teammates Manuel Feller and Marco Schwarz were second and third respectively +0.10 and +0.16 seconds behind the German skier.
Feller has finished second, fourth, and second in the three slaloms of this season. He is now leading the discipline standings, 44 points ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen.
“This is one of the highlights of my career, I always wanted to have the red bib (...) It’s hard to believe for now", Feller said.
Michael Matt set the fastest time in the second run to finish fourth, +0.46 behind Strasser.
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