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Eva-Maria Brem earns maiden World Cup victory in Aspen
Aspen, USA – After taking a year off, the ladies' Audi FIS Ski World Cup tour came back to Aspen for two days of technical racing events, starting with a giant slalom race today. Mother nature played along and allowed the 66 skiers to race in fantastic conditions.
The first run saw Austria's Eva-Maria Brem showcase all her talent to take the lead, leaving the rest of the pack more than one second off the pace. Italy's Federica Brignone and Austria's Kathrin Zettel were both respectively 1.14 and 1.33 seconds behind in second and third place.
Eva-Maria Brem confessed she would give it all out in the second run as if she had finished 10th after the first run and things went according to the plan in the second run. The 26-year-old perfectly dealt with the pressure of being the last to go and raced to her first World Cup victory, clocking a combined time of 2:05.97. In second and third place, Kathrin Zettel and Federica Brignone swapped their first run positions, respectively 0.59 and 1.36 seconds slower than the winner of the day.
Eva-Maria Brem has built up momentum and confidence since her first World Cup podium in Are in March 2014. She finished second in the final giant slalom race in Lenzerheide and took third place in giant slalom opener in Sölden in October.
“I tried to push in the second run because I thought that I would never get over it if I didn't win that race,” said Brem after the race.
“So many things came straight to my mind when I saw the green light after crossing the finish line. I first didn't realise that it was me who won that race.”
“I wasn't very nervous before the start of the second run. It felt like a normal race. But it was kind of strange standing at the start with no more racers around. Once out of the gate I felt that my legs weren't that fast. I just tried to attack though and in the end it was enough.”
After finishing third in the slalom race in Levi, Kathrin Zettel landed today the second podium of the season out of three races to take the lead in the overall standings. Zettel won her first World Cup race in Aspen in 2006 and has been successful on that slope since.
“I am really happy about the second place today, because I was really nervous before the race,” said Zettel.
“I thought about two years ago when I had a great weekend here, finishing second in the giant slalom and winning the slalom. This is why I had big expectations for this weekend. It is wonderful when it works so well like that."
Aspen also means good memories for Federica Brignone who earned her first World Cup podium in there in 2009.
“I am really happy today because after two years without any podiums it is good to be back,” she admitted at the press conference.
“That was my goal of the season. Now that I have achieved it, maybe next time I will try to still be better.”
The show goes on tomorrow with the slalom race.
The first run saw Austria's Eva-Maria Brem showcase all her talent to take the lead, leaving the rest of the pack more than one second off the pace. Italy's Federica Brignone and Austria's Kathrin Zettel were both respectively 1.14 and 1.33 seconds behind in second and third place.
Eva-Maria Brem confessed she would give it all out in the second run as if she had finished 10th after the first run and things went according to the plan in the second run. The 26-year-old perfectly dealt with the pressure of being the last to go and raced to her first World Cup victory, clocking a combined time of 2:05.97. In second and third place, Kathrin Zettel and Federica Brignone swapped their first run positions, respectively 0.59 and 1.36 seconds slower than the winner of the day.
Eva-Maria Brem has built up momentum and confidence since her first World Cup podium in Are in March 2014. She finished second in the final giant slalom race in Lenzerheide and took third place in giant slalom opener in Sölden in October.
“I tried to push in the second run because I thought that I would never get over it if I didn't win that race,” said Brem after the race.
“So many things came straight to my mind when I saw the green light after crossing the finish line. I first didn't realise that it was me who won that race.”
“I wasn't very nervous before the start of the second run. It felt like a normal race. But it was kind of strange standing at the start with no more racers around. Once out of the gate I felt that my legs weren't that fast. I just tried to attack though and in the end it was enough.”
After finishing third in the slalom race in Levi, Kathrin Zettel landed today the second podium of the season out of three races to take the lead in the overall standings. Zettel won her first World Cup race in Aspen in 2006 and has been successful on that slope since.
“I am really happy about the second place today, because I was really nervous before the race,” said Zettel.
“I thought about two years ago when I had a great weekend here, finishing second in the giant slalom and winning the slalom. This is why I had big expectations for this weekend. It is wonderful when it works so well like that."
Aspen also means good memories for Federica Brignone who earned her first World Cup podium in there in 2009.
“I am really happy today because after two years without any podiums it is good to be back,” she admitted at the press conference.
“That was my goal of the season. Now that I have achieved it, maybe next time I will try to still be better.”
The show goes on tomorrow with the slalom race.
Source: fis-ski.com
