Great Britain make best World Cup start as Laurie Taylor narrowly misses out on podium

Join the Miguel Delaney Inside Football Join the Miguel Delaney Inside newsletter to get exclusive access and unparalleled insight. Football Join the Miguel Delaney Inside newsletter Football newsletterGreat Britain enjoyed a stellar start to the Alpine ski World Cup season as Laurie Taylor achieved a career-best fourth-place finish in the first men’s slalom race of the year.The race in Levi, Lapland also produced Britain’s best-ever combined performance at a World Cup, with veteran Dave Ryding – competing in his final season – seventh. The Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are next year, so it was the ideal time to do it. It is only the second time Britain has achieved two top-10 finishers in a World Cup event, with Ryding finishing seventh in Aspen in March 2024, which also featured Taylor’s best result until now, an eight-place finish. Levi’s win was historic in many ways. Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who switched to representing his mother’s native country in 2024 having previously raced for Norway, sealed Brazil’s first-ever World Cup win.Pinheiro Braathen, the overall slalom World Cup winner in 2023, was the last to complete his second run in Finland and withstood the pressure – having set the best time in his opening run – to beat France’s Clement Noel by 0.31 seconds.Taylor had led for most of the second run, having significantly improved on his first run which left him in 15th place. The 29 year old, who had improved his first run to leave him in 15th place, was eventually pushed out of the podium by four-hundredths-of-a-second. Local hero Eduard Hallberg pipped him to the podium and gave Brazil its first-ever World Cup win. “It felt amazing, I had no idea that was where I was going to end up.“The run felt solid and in charge. I just kept climbing [in the standings], it was quite surreal. It’s a huge confidence boost for the rest of the season.“I’ve been working so hard for so long, so to break in like that to fourth, it really means the world.”open image in galleryPinheiro Braathen won a reindeer, the traditional prize for the winner (Getty Images)GB’s men’s slalom coach Jai Geyer said: “That’s the best start to the season we’ve had as a team, with something we’ve never done before here – two in the top seven – so we’re all pumped, great for the team. What a solid start.”Levi, the opening of the 11 World Cup slalom events, was also the first race in which Britain entered four skiers. Billy Major came in 27th place and 20-year old debutant Luca Carrick Smith did not finish. Mikaela shiffrin, who has won 102 World Cups in total, extended her record by beating 19-year old Albanian Lara Colturi with a time of 1.66 seconds on both runs. Germany’s Emma Aicher was third.
2025-11-16 17:17:54