Strasser claims first World Cup gold in four years with surprise Zagreb slalom triumph

Linus Strasser won his first alpine skiing World Cup event in four years with a brilliant second run in the slalom in Zagreb.

Not since triumphing in the city event in Stockholm back in January 2017 had Strasser topped the podium and his chances of doing so in Croatia looked bleak when he sat in eighth position following the first run - 0.96seconds behind leader Clement Noel.

But the German produced an impressive clocking second time down the mountain to set a testing combined target of 2:01.30.

And with skiing conditions becoming trickier as the afternoon wore on, he watched the seven men after him all struggle, to confirm a surprise gold - only the fourth World Cup podium of his career.

Behind Strasser were a trio of Austrians as Manuel Feller finished 0.10s back to take silver, and the lead in the overall slalom World Cup rankings, with Marco Schwarz earning bronze and Michael Matt narrowly missing the podium in fourth but impressively climbing from 26th following the first run.

Great Britain's Dave Ryding struggled on both runs and finished 27th, having had a start number of 10.

Feller overhauled Henrik Kristoffersen atop the slalom rankings after the Norwegian could only finish tenth in Zagreb but the day belonged to Strasser, who became the first ever German to win a World Cup slalom event in the Croatian capital.

Sportsbeat 2021