Poutianen Overtakes Vonn in Cup
Finland's Tanja Poutianen took the win Saturday as she led the women's Audi FIS World Cup in La Molina. Poutianen's win nudged her into the lead of the World Cup overall standings - a mere two points ahead of reigning champion Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO). The U.S. Ski Team's Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) finished 18th.
The women's giant slalom, along with the rest of this weekend's alpine coverage, will be webcast on demand at UniversalSports.com.
According to Women's Tech Head Coach Trevor Wagner, while there were a few little mistakes in Mancuso's run, she is making progress.
"She's just getting up to speed. She doesn't have as many giant slalom days as a lot of other women do because she was injured," Wagner said. "Every race she just keeps getting a little stronger."
Wagner also said that Mancuso's skiing was good enough to keep up with the top finishers in certain sections of the course, which bodes well for her future.
"She has sections that are right up to speed with the other women then she'll have a little mistake," Wagner said. "Any day now, she'll start putting it back together and be up to speed."
Vonn, who was disqualified in the first run for missing a gate, was having a good run when, according to Wagner, a fast switch took her out of the competition.
"She came through the exit of it at the right direction. Then she made a really quick switch and got a little bit of a pop from the skis," Wagner said. "She then hit the roll and it bumped her more and she was out."
Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) also went out in the race at the same spot as Vonn.
The women race in La Molina again on Sunday with a slalom, which will be webcast live on UniversalSports.com starting with the first run at 3:30 a.m. ET.
"It's a long hill, so fitness is going to have a lot to do with it and it's going to be a toughness thing," Wagner said of the slalom. "We have Julia, Lindsey, Sarah and Sterling Grant [Amery, WI] in the race and they're all really great at slalom."
OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 AUDI FIS WORLD CUP
La Molina, Spain - Dec. 13, 2008
Women's giant slalom
1. Tanja Poutianen, Finland, 2:16.76
2. Manuela Moelgg, Italy, 2:16.78
3. Nicole Hosp, Austria, 2:17.41
4. Elisabeth Goergl, Austria, 2:18.18
5. Michaela Kirchgasser, Austria, 2:18.20
-
18. Julia Mancuso, Olympic Valley, CA, 2:19.49
- (top 30 make second run)
47. Hailey Duke, Boise, ID, 1:13.87
-
DNF1: Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO)
DQ: Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO)
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Poutianen Overtakes Vonn in Cup
