HINTERSTODER, Austria (Feb. 28, 2016) – Tim Jitloff (Reno, NV) is getting closer to dialing in the equipment issues he’s been struggling with the past few weeks. In Sunday’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup giant slalom, he almost found the right combination, finished as the top American in 23rd.
“Today, I knew I wanted to come out and put together a solid day,” said Jitloff. “The first run was a step in the right direction.”
France’s Alexis Pinturault won his second-straight giant slalom – he also won Friday’s GS in Hinterstoder – in commanding fashion by 1.14 seconds over Austria’s Marcel Hirscher. Norway’s Henrik Kristofferson was third.
The past couple of weeks have been a struggle for the 31-year-old, six-time U.S. Champion as he has worked diligently to perfect his equipment set up. However, the combination of canceled races and long training hours has taken a toll, physically and emotionally.
“The difficulties of the last two weeks and the effort that’s gone into trying to get things right, I just felt very tired,” Jitloff said after finishing 10th in Sunday’s first run, only to fall to 23rd after the second run. “It was an extremely long and turny course, and I just didn’t have the energy in that second run and unfortunately was quite slow.”
Tim Jitloff skied to 23rd place.
Jitloff was the only American to qualify for a second run. Brennan Rubie (Salt Lake City, UT), Mark Engel (Truckee, CA), Kieffer Christianson (Anchorage, AK), Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, VT) and Samuel Dupratt (Dixon, CA) didn’t make the top-30 first run cut. Tommy Ford (Bend, OR), 29th in Friday’s GS, did not finish the first run.
Up next, the men’s tech team heads to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia for two giant slaloms, including one that was rescheduled from Garmisch, and a slalom March 4-6.
“I have two more races coming up in Kranjska Gora, and I’m going to take a rest here for a few days before I go there,” said Jitloff, who is looking forward to finishing the season strong. “We’re going to try a few new things just to try and get the energy back into it and hopefully I can reel this back in before the end of the season.”
HIGHLIGHTS
- France’s Alexis Pinturault took a commanding victory Sunday by 1.14 seconds over Austria’s Marcel Hirscher.
- Pinturault won his 14th career World Cup victory, and second-straight giant slalom win.
- Hirscher extended his overall World Cup lead to 283 points over Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen.
- Hirsher also leads the World Cup giant slalom standings by 131 points over Pinturault
QUOTES
Tim Jitloff
The last two times I’ve been out, sadly in the first run something has happened and I’ve basically missed the cut because of it. For me emotionally, it’s been pretty stressful. Today, I knew I wanted to come out and put together a solid day. The first run was a step in the right direction for that, but in the second run … the difficulties of the last two weeks and the effort that’s gone into trying to get things right, I just felt very tired. It was an extremely long and turny course, and I just didn’t have the energy in that second run and unfortunately was quite slow.
I have two more races coming up in Kranjska Gora, and I’m going to take a rest here for a few days before I go there we’re going to try a few new things just to try and get the energy back into it and hopefully I can reel this back in before the end of the season.
Broadcast and Live Streaming (times EST)
Sunday, Feb. 28
1:00 p.m. - Men’s giant slalom, Hinterstoder - Universal HD
RESULTS
Men’s giant slalom
