Huetter claims first win of the season in Val d'Isère

On a day when her biggest rivals slipped up, Cornelia Huetter (AUT/Head) showed that steady — but fast — wins the race.

The Austrian veteran used a controlled run down the long Downhill course in Val d'Isère on Saturday to win in 1:41.54 from Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (GER/Rossignol, +0.26s) and Lindsey Vonn (USA/Head, +0.35s).

Chasing Weidle-Winkelmann's early lead with bib No.9, Huetter took control in the mid-section and separated herself from the pack by skiing a superb racing line that was not easy to achieve in flat light on the 2800m O.K. course.

"I nailed the line perfectly during the race," said Huetter, the 2024 Downhill Crystal Globe winner. "I fought all the way down to hold my line."

Huetter's elegant performance stood in contrast to those of the two biggest names in women's Downhill skiing - Vonn and Sofia Goggia (ITA/Atomic) — who were left to rue errors that might have cost them victory.

Skiing before Huetter, Vonn held the provisional lead at multiple intermediate splits but went wide to the left after a line error in the lower mid-section to cross the line in second and then drop to third when Huetter took the lead.

Goggia, skiing later with bib No.14, built a lead of nearly half a second over Huetter but lost control in the mid-section, and a spectacular recovery could not stop her from going wide, losing time, and finishing eighth.

Breezy Johnson (USA/Atomic), Laura Pirovano (ITA/Head) and Magdalena Egger (AUT/Head) were among the other skiers who found themselves well wide of the ideal racing line at certain points on the course.

Huetter had no such problems, however, despite finishing 21st and 26th in the two training runs leading up to race day.

"After these trainings yesterday I was so bad, I was so slow," she said. "The biggest problem is I don't know why I was so slow.

"Today I didn't have much expectation about my speed but it turned out I'm really fast. That counts for racing, so maybe I need some pressure inside of me to put everything out (there), and today I did it."

The 33-year-old said the conditions suited her despite the light causing line problems for other skiers.

"This year it was so amazing with the snow," she said." The surface was really nice so it was perfect for downhill racing."

While Huetter celebrated her 10th World Cup victory, Weidle-Winkelmann was surprisingly close to her first.

The first athlete out of the gate after being fastest in Friday's training, the German's time did not seem likely to hold up when the following skier, Ilka Stuhec (SLO/Kaestle), built a big lead at the second intermediate split.

But Stuhec, who ended up missing the podium by 0.04 seconds in fourth place, eventually fell behind the German, as did everyone else until Huetter's winning run.

"I didn't expect a podium with that run," admitted Weidle-Winkelmann, who reached her seventh World Cup podium, all in Downhill.

"The top part was quite good but the middle section, I thought I was holding too much on the line, so that's where Conny also gained a lot of time.

"I had a good feeling in the trainings so I know I could perform well but I also knew that Sofia and Lindsey and everyone are all great skiers.

"But you see today that they also make mistakes, they are also human beings, so it's nice to see that I can ski fast."

Vonn's mistakes cost her for the third race in a row following her breakthrough victory in last Friday's first St. Moritz Downhill, but she still made it three podiums from three Downhills so far this season.

"I thought it was actually not bad," said the 41-year-old, who was fastest of all at the second speed trap but only 27th fastest at the third trap after her line error.

"I thought I skied well in the middle, and then on the bottom I was carrying a lot of speed and with the light, I didn't quite see the terrain, and I lost my balance.

"It cost me probably half a second or more so I'm disappointed in myself for that mistake. But when you're going fast, anything can happen and I'm just happy that I hung on to the podium and the red (leader's) bib."

Vonn will farewell Val d'Isère, where she was won seven World Cup races, with her final ski down the O.K. course in Sunday's Super G.

Click here for full results from Saturday's race.