Sofia Goggia wins Crans-Montana downhill in tricky conditions to close in on crystal globe

Sofia Goggia wins the Crans-Montana downhill for the fourth time in her career to put behind the disappointment of missing podium at the Courcheval-Meribel World Championships.

In falling snow, Goggia finished in a time of 1:26.81 and 0.15 seconds ahead of compatriot Federica Brignone who took second to complete the 17th Italian double in the history of women’s skiing.

France’s Laura Gauche, wearing the No. 26 bib, took third as she finished 0.41 seconds behind Goggia for a career-first podium finish.

Goggia looked very relaxed as she descended the course, getting off to a rapid start in the opening section before cutting through the wind to set up a smooth finale where she built her time advantage and finished in style.

“They have been two difficult days for me,” Goggia said afterwards.

“Having a single test and exiting at the fifth gate wasn’t easy.

“The first 15 [today] started in the dark, I knew that if there was someone who could beat me it was Fede. I managed to be faster here in the finale.”

Goggia’s fifth win in seven World Cup downhills earned her 100 race points and extended her lead in the season standings to more than 170 over Slovenia’s Ilka Stuhec.

The start was delayed by more than 30 minutes as fog clouded the upper part of the one-and-a-half mile course.

Mikaela Shiffrin did not start as she takes a break after the world championships. The American holds a comfortable lead of more than 700 points in the overall World Cup standings.