Canadian lays down fastest slalom time to notch first World Cup top-10 in Friday’s combined

BANSKO, BUL (Feb. 22, 2019) – Trevor Philp (Calgary/Banff Alpine Racers) earned his career-first, World Cup top-10, finishing fifth in the combined on Friday in Bansko, Bulgaria.

The technical specialist was 27th after the super-G leg of the event, and leveraged an early start position to attack and tie 2019 Slalom World Champion, Marcel Hirscher of Austria, to post the day’s fastest slalom time and move up 22 spots to fifth.

“Any day being in the top 5 is not a bad day. I’m really excited with the day, to put down an okay super-G run after minimal time on the long skis, and then to push out of the slalom gate with one focus – attack,” said Philp whose total time of one minute, 56.7 seconds left him just .5 seconds off the podium. “The snow in both events was quite grippy and aggressive, so it did groove out a bit. I knew I had an opportunity with my slalom start number, and I did my best to take advantage of it.”

Teammate Dustin Cook (Ottawa /Club de ski Mont Ste-Marie) posted a DNF in the super-G.

France’s Alexis Pinturault won Friday’s combined, securing the Crystal Globe as the season’s top combined athlete on the men’s World Cup circuit. Joining Pinturault on the podium were Hirscher, who finished second and 0.68 seconds off the pace, and Slovenia’s Stefan Hadalin, who was just 0.01 behind Hirscher’s total time.

Full race results can be found at FIS-SKI.com.

Action resumes in Bankso on Saturday with a men’s super-G, followed by a giant slalom on Sunday. Cans-Montana, Switzerland, will host a ladies’ World Cup downhill on Saturday, and a combined on Sunday.

Canada’s Ski Cross Team will be in action both Saturday and Sunday in a World Cup double-header in Sunny Valley, Russia.

CBC Sports will live stream Saturday’s ski cross and alpine ladies’ downhill events – please visit CBCSports.ca for their ski broadcast schedule.