Odermatt stays hot to break Swiss World Cup wins record / Photo: Marco BERTORELLO - AFP
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Odermatt stays hot to break Swiss World Cup wins record
Marco Odermatt seized a slice of history with a blistering second run on a tricky piste on Sunday to claim the giant slalom in Alta Badia on Sunday for a second victory in two days in the Italian Dolomites.
Just one day after equalling Pirmin Zurbriggen's Swiss men's record for most World Cup victories in downhill in nearby Val Gardena, Odermatt made the record his own with a 41st triumph.
He is still far behind the overall record-holder Mikaela Shiffrin with 99. Swede Ingemar Stenmark leads male skiers with 86 wins. Vreni Schneider is the top Swiss skier with 55 wins.
In Sunday's second run, Odermatt surged from third to first with a second run of 1 minute 15.18 seconds for a total time of 2:31.45. He finished a huge 0.85sec ahead of Frenchman Leo Anguenot at the head of a pack of five skiers separated by 0.40 sec.
Anguenot's previous best result was 13th in Aspen, Colorado, in March 2023.
"It's a dream come true to be on the World Cup podium, I've been dreaming of it since I was a kid," Anguenot told Eurosport.
Norwegian Alexander Steen Olsen, second after the first run, finished third with Croatian Filip Zubcic, unable to defend his lead after finding himself fastest after the opening run for the first time, fourth.
Odermatt tightened his grip on the overall standings. He has 440 points and leads Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, who finished ninth on Sunday, by 121 points.
Odermatt also pushed Kristoffersen off the top of the title-bunched discipline standings. After Sunday's race, Odermatt had 200 points, Kristoffersen 199 and Steen Olsen 189.
The men's World Cup continues in Alta Badia on Monday with a slalom, a discipline Odermatt does not compete in.
D.Verheyen--JdB
