Kranjec took the ski run as 42nd and caught the final by a millisecond. At the second timing, the Slovenian skier was 49th but then switched to a much faster rhythm in the lower part of the run, beating the winner-to-be by 21 milliseconds in this section. In the final run, Kranjec took good advantage of good conditions on the track and spent more than 20 minutes smiling to the cameras, as he stayed in the lead for half of the final. Justin Murisier from Switzerland, who took 15th place in the first run, was the first to put him out of the limelight.

For the 23-year-old Slovenian skier, the extremely steep Bellevarde ski run was a proof that he had managed to catch the elite after a bad start to the season. What is more, Kranjec has improved his best result in the World Cup by 11 places, after taking 23rd place at Alta Badia in 2013.

T. O.