With a fantastic ride in Wengen, Switzerland, Croatian Ivica Kostelić celebrated in the first super combination of the season for the World Cup (2:40,44 minutes). It was the third victory of the 31-year-old Croatian in 2011, and out of five races this year, only in the Adelboden gymnasium did he miss the podium by four hundredths of a second. Although he was fifth after the descent yesterday, 96 hundredths of a second behind the Italian Christoph Innerhofer, Ivica could already celebrate, since all the slalom masters were far behind. In addition, his father Ante Kostelić set the course for the most technically demanding discipline. That's why it shouldn't be surprising that Ivica was by far the fastest in the slalom, with even 63 hundredths faster than the Austrian Benjamin Reich, who ended up fifth.
- And what can I say but, good! Now I just need complete peace to prepare for the next races. The downhill was long, and the slalom was shorter, but still longer than usual for the combination. And it helped me that my father set up a real slalom setup - said Ivica.
In the first super combination, the second place went to the Swiss Carl Janka, 58 hundredths of a second behind, while the last step of the podium was occupied by the great Norwegian, Aksel Lund Svindal (2:41,78).
With yesterday's victory, the 14th in his career, Ivica cemented himself in first place in the overall World Cup standings with 604 points, ahead of Svindal, who collected 495. Today in Wengen, the skiers' program is downhill, and tomorrow, slalom. Last year, Kostelić celebrated in the Wengen slalom.
Bonus video:
