Matthias Mayer wins at the Lauberhorn Combined

With number 1 the Norwegian showpiece athlete Aleksander Aamodt Kilde starts the combined downhill. He delivers a courageous run but is not satisfied with himself at the finish. Frenchman Muffat-Jeandet delivers a solid run with potential for the slalom. A small surprise is the lead of Ricardo Tonetti 0.03 seconds ahead of the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, about which the Italian is visibly happy. Also top favorite delivers a good downhill performance, thus his good chances for victory remain intact. Mauro Caviezel with bib number 11 leads clearly with 0.68 seconds in the downhill, the lead in the downhill seems certain, but he enters a right turn with too much speed, gets out of the track and does not manage to pass the next gate. Thus the promising chances of the Swiss are gone. Thus the Swiss trump is lost. The following run of the Swiss Stefan Rogentin, who crosses the finish line with a gap of 0.16 seconds on intermediate position 2, is a small Swiss consolation. The time gaps of the shortened downhill are tight, which helps the strong slalom racers. With number 16 the Austrian Daniel Danklmaier drives to the surprise of all the best time and takes the lead in the combined downhill with 0.42 seconds. The next Swiss Luca Aerni leads at the top with 0.08 seconds, but then decreases with each intermediate time and ends up with 1.60 seconds clearly behind the top. Surprisingly, Austrian speed specialist Vincent Kriechmayr also loses 0.43 seconds to the finish despite leading at the beginning. Downhill dominator Dominik Paris is also struggling, the Lauberhorn downhill does not suit him, even though he leads for a while, he crosses the finish line 0.12 seconds behind the leader Danklmaier and takes second place. To the delight of the Swiss spectators, Gilles Roulin delivers the run of the season. The fact that he leads at the top by 0.07 seconds is not yet very surprising, but he maintains the lead all the way down and takes the top spot by 0.14 seconds. He now likes Wengen much better than Paris. Gilles Roulin is also surprised by the good result, he has not had a good season so far. He does not think he has much of a chance in the slalom. There is also joy for the Swiss Niels Hintermann, who crosses the finish line just 0.27 seconds behind, having surprisingly won the combined in Wengen three years ago (13.01.2017). Downhill specialist Matthias Mayer will start the race with bib number 31. He has already set the best time in training. And also in the race he proves his class again, extending his lead from intermediate time to intermediate time (-0.08 sec., -0.19 sec., -0.37 sec., -0.42 sec.) to take the lead with a whopping advantage of 0.53 seconds. Now the ranking from the downhill is ready. The chances for the French to reach the podium are good.

The slalom run decides
The start will be with the fastest in the downhill. This could suit well-placed slalom racers very well. Matthias Mayer as the first to open the run smiles at the finish, he knows that he has no chance with this, but at least he made it to the finish, but his time is respectable. With 2.80 seconds behind Matthias Mayer, the second from the downhill, Gilles Roulin, crosses the finish line. Somewhat surprising is the performance of Ricardo Tonetti, who crosses the finish line 1.24 seconds behind Mayer. Aleksander Aamodt Kilde really needs a good result to stay in the overall World Cup, but he also loses 1.56 seconds to Mayer and lines up on intermediate rank 4. But it also shows that Mayer has delivered a very good run. A bit surprising is the run of Victor Muffat-Jeandet, you can see him actually in front, but until the finish he loses 0.67 seconds to Mayer, a huge surprise. After 17 riders Matthias Mayer is still in the lead, probably to his own surprise. Probably only Pinturault or Meillard can still be dangerous to him. Mayer is certainly helped by the reversed starting order. Alexis Pinturault starts with a gap of 1.68 seconds to Mayer and reduces it from intermediate time to intermediate time, but it is not enough, he is 0.07 seconds behind Mayer. Loïc Meillard remains 1.02 seconds behind Mayer. Who would have thought it, Mayer seems to win this combination and indeed at the end he is on top of the podium. Alexis Pinturault and Victor Muffat-Jeandet are also on the podium as expected. Matthias Mayer said in the interview after the race: "I am brutally happy that I skied down the slalom cleanly, but I also tried to attack. If the starting order had been reversed, I wouldn't have had a chance." Objectively speaking, Matthias Mayer really delivered a good run, after all he got the fourth fastest slalom time. That is why he is rightly being celebrated as the winner of today's combined on the Lauberhorn.