Austria’s Fenninger wins Bansko super-combined race

Austrian Anna Fenninger won the only super-combined race of this year’s women’s alpine skiing World Cup in Bulgarian resort Bansko, with weather once again causing havoc on March 1. World Cup leader Tina Maze was runner-up.

Fog had caused the cancellation of the super-giant slalom race on February 27, which has now been rescheduled for March 2, while the super-giant on February 28 was abandoned after only several competitors had completed their runs.

The super-giant leg of the combined had been briefly interrupted by fog again, with American Lindsey Vonn – who won the super-giant races in Bansko in 2009 and 2012 – catching the worst conditions after the restart. Vonn finished 24th and chose not to compete in the slalom leg of the race.

Afterwards, Vonn spoke of frustration caused by the poor weather and said she treated the first leg as a training run for the super-giant race on March 2. “On a day like today, my goal was just to get to the bottom and use it as training for tomorrow. I am looking to try to win the downhill and the super-G titles. Those are big goals for me this season,” she said.

Vonn is narrowly ahead of Fenninger in the super-G standings, with four races still to go, although it remains unclear whether there is enough time to hold all four before the season finale in Meribel later this month.

Fenninger led after the first leg, followed closely by Maze, who finished faster in the slalom, but not enough to close the gap. After her win in the Bansko super-combined race, Fenninger has cut Maze’s lead in the overall rankings to 64 points.

Austria’s Kathrin Zettel took third spot on the podium, after finishing ninth in first run and fourth in the second. Switzerland’s Wendy Holdener won the slalom run, rising from 28th to seventh in the final rankings.

(Photo: banskoblog.com)

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