Swiss one-two in Schladming as Loic Meillard takes victory from Gino Caviezel in World Cup giant slalom

It was a Swiss one-two in Schladming as Loic Meillard took victory from Gino Caviezel in the World Cup giant slalom night race.

The early lead went, in dramatic style, to Hannes Zingerle of Italy, who – despite crashing into the finishing arch – managed to somehow set a time that a number of the subsequent skiers couldn’t better.

Zingerle’s time on the top step was eventually brought to a close as the big guns began to emerge from the starting gate, and it was Austrian Marco Schwarz who put down a marker with a total time of 2:19.58 as the numbers dwindled.

Schwarz, to the delight of the home faithful, remained in the lead even after the likes of Alexis Pinturault, Lucas Braathen and Aleksander Aamodt Kilde had descended, with that famed trio unable to break into the top two, with Norway youngster Alexander Steen Olsen in second, just 0.48 seconds behind Schwarz.

It looked like an Austrian one-two at one stage when Manu Feller – fourth in the slalom on Tuesday night – was flying down the piste half a second up, but an error crept in, and a DNF followed for the 30-year-old.

Three racers were left: Henrik Kristoffersen, Gino Caviezel and Loic Meillard – the latter fastest from the first run.

First, Kristoffersen set off and came so close with his effort, but a couple of slips late on cost him.

Caviezel came mightily close to a DNF, but recovered and crossed the line with a slim advantage to take the lead with only his teammate Meillard to go.

And – even despite the absence of Marco Odermatt – it was a one-two for the Swiss team as Meillard went 0.59 seconds quicker with a controlled run to take victory.

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