Val di Fassa (Italy) (AFP)

Italy's Federica Brignone won her first race this season with the World Cup super-G in Val di Fassa (Italy) on Sunday, where she edged Switzerland's Lara Gut-Behrami, who took the opportunity to secure the small specialty globe.

Brignone, defending champion in the general classification, edged Lara Gut-Behrami (59/100) and another Swiss, Corinne Suter (72/100) in a race marked by two long interruptions.

Norway's Kajsa Vickhoff Lie first fell mid-course before rushing into the safety nets and being strongly shaken, requiring an interruption of more than 20 minutes to be evacuated by helicopter.

Austrian Rosina Schneeberger, bib 21, then violently crashed into a door at the top of the course before finishing her race also in the safety nets, screaming in pain, before being taken to hospital.

Federica Brignone therefore waited a long time before being able to celebrate her first victory of the winter.

After an exceptional 2019/2020 season, it had a much more discreet winter (four podiums so far) marked in particular by catastrophic Worlds.

Much awaited in Italy in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Brignone (30) had multiplied the disillusions there in February.

After an average super-G (10th), she fell from the first gates of the combined slalom when she had achieved the best time of the speed heat, before finishing the parallel (6th) in tears, eliminated by her compatriot Marta Bassino on a race she had deemed unfair.

His nightmare continued with two jumps in giant and slalom.

After two average runs on Friday (17th) and Saturday (23rd), she finally lit up her season with a 16th victory in her career to equal Deborah Compagnoni's national record for women.

"I had a difficult time, I ski better than at the start of the season but until then I couldn't do it in a race, it was very frustrating. I have confidence on the skis but until then I was doing too much, I was perhaps too aggressive, too hungry for victories. But I never gave up, "said Brignone.

- "Rest" -

Despite everything, she remains far from the best in the general classification (5th), where Lara Gut-Behrami took off on Sunday.

The Swiss, three times medalist at Cortina (gold in super-G and giant, bronze in downhill) continued her exceptional series started on January 23 with 11 podiums now in her last 12 races.

She also took advantage of the poor performance of the Slovak Petra Vlhova, out of points (32nd) because of a big mistake, to overtake her by 187 lengths in the race to the big globe.

Thanks in particular to his four victories this season, Gut-Behrami also won the small globe of the specialty, the third of his career, while there is still a super-G to play in March.

"After these three days I'm going to be happy to have a few days off, it will give me time to realize. For the general for the moment it doesn't mean anything. Everything can still happen, things change very quickly. I just stay focused on my skiing, ”she said.

Corinne Suter signed behind her her 7th podium of the season, the 3rd in three days at Val di Fassa (3rd and 2nd of the two descents).

Tessa Worley finished 9th at 1 sec 49 and Tiffany Gauthier 17th at 1 sec 77.

© 2021 AFP