For the first time, Ilka Štuhec came in second in a World Cup race. In the combination race in Crans Montana, she was beaten only by Frederica Brignone. The third-place finisher Michael Kirchgasser continued the Austrian tradition of attaining podium positions. Since combination races were introduced in 2005, there has been an Austrian competitor on the podium at all 28 events. Still, Austrian women have only three combination wins, one fewer than their Slovenian counterparts. Foto: EPA
For the first time, Ilka Štuhec came in second in a World Cup race. In the combination race in Crans Montana, she was beaten only by Frederica Brignone. The third-place finisher Michael Kirchgasser continued the Austrian tradition of attaining podium positions. Since combination races were introduced in 2005, there has been an Austrian competitor on the podium at all 28 events. Still, Austrian women have only three combination wins, one fewer than their Slovenian counterparts. Foto: EPA

Frederica Brignone ended up winning with a lead of just more than a second. She had the second-best super-G time and, surprisingly, the third best slalom time. For the Italian, who had only one top-15 finish in a world Cup slalom race (she was 14th in Zagreb in 2015), this was the fourth win in her career and the first win a combination race. Third place went to the Austrian Michaela Kirchgasser, while the world champion Wendy Holdener had the best slalom time, and ended up in fourth position.

On her way to a possible combination Crystal Globe
This is Štuhec’s seventh podium position this season. After five wins, and a single third place finish, it was time for a second-place finish. As expected, her path to success began with an excellent super-G, where she had the best time. In the slalom, she didn’t take too many risks and couldn’t challenge Brignone. In the overall combination standings, Štuhec has a lead before the final race. Brignone is 40 points behind, while Kirchgasser is 75 points behind. In the overall World Cup standings, Slovenia’s best skier has again made it to the number three spot.

Lindsey Vonn: Please stop this, FIS
The morning part of the combination will remain controversial for a long time. The start was initially scheduled for 10:30 a.m., but the first three competitors failed to finish the race in dangerous conditions. Ilka Štuhec, with the number one starting position, was among them. The race was postponed and then restarted from a lower starting position at 11:30 a.m. Several skiers, including all Americans led by Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin, decided not to start again because of poor conditions. "Well that's enough. I'm not racing today. This is not safe. Please stop this, FIS," tweeted Vonn. Štuhec’s mother Darja Črnko also suggested that her daughter not compete, but Štuhec did not take her mother’s advice.

Maruša Ferk also content with her performance
After he repeated start, Štuhec had the best time of the race, and ended up with a lead of 52 hundredths of a second ahead of Brignone. The third time went to Kirchgasser. Maruša Ferk was also in a good position, since she was sixth and just 1.20 seconds behind her teammate. In the slalom race, she improved one position. Her fifth-place finish was her best result this season and it allowed her to forget the bad luck she has had this winter. On Saturday, Crans Montana will host a super-G and then another combination on Sunday.

T. O.; Translated by J. B.