Dec 6 (Reuters) – New Zealand’s Alice Robinson claimed her second straight giant slalom win and sixth World Cup victory of her career in the discipline by mastering rain and wind-battered conditions in Tremblant, Canada on Saturday.
Robinson, who also won the season opener a week ago before she turned 24, delivered two confident runs to take the day despite tricky conditions in shifting snow and variable visibility, beating Croatian Zrinka Ljutic by nearly a second.
“That was such a testing race,” said Robinson, who moved top of the 2026 giant slalom standings, bolstering her credentials for February’s Milano-Cortina Olympics.
“I remember last time I was here I didn’t have a very good weekend so I was a bit worried coming into this week. I really didn’t know what I was doing on this hill, but today it seemed so seamless.”
The 21-year-old Ljutic delivered one of her strongest giant slalom performances to finish second, the reigning slalom crystal globe holder producing a composed run to secure just her second podium in the discipline.
Home favourite Valerie Grenier completed the podium, while American star Mikaela Shiffrin scraped into sixth, posting a solid first run but unable to find the rhythm in the second.
“I felt very aggressive on the second run,” Shiffrin said.
“The visibility was so dark it felt like skiing at night without any lights… I cleaned up the top pitch, but I mistimed a few things on the flats and you lose speed so fast when it’s that flat. All in all the day was super positive.”
A second women’s giant slalom race is scheduled in Tremblant on Sunday.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City)
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