Fenninger increases pressure on Maze

[March 02, 2015]  BANSKO, Bulgaria (Reuters) - Anna Fenninger increased the pressure on World Cup leader Tina Maze with her fourth back-to-back victory in a women’s Super-G in Bansko on Monday. After winning in one minute and 14.59 seconds, the Austrian now lies only 44 points behind her Slovenian rival and seems to be improving with every race as Maze struggles for form.

After a sluggish start to the season, Fenninger, the 2014 overall World Cup champion, has won the last four races she entered -- the world championship giant slalom in Beaver Creek, another giant slalom in Maribor and the first super-combined of her career on the same piste on Sunday. Maze, the 2013 World Cup winner, finished 0.16 seconds behind the big globe holder and the season finale promises to be a nail-biting one between the best two skiers of the winter, who both won two gold medals at the worlds.

By contrast, Lindsey Vonn, who staged a sensational comeback by beating the record of 62 World Cup victories following a one-year injury break, looks out of contention as the season draws to a close.

The American still managed a good third place, 0.28 seconds behind Fenninger and will probably now focus on securing another crystal globe in her favorite event, the downhill.

The women’s World Cup finishes on March 22 after a weekend of speed events in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, technical disciplines in Are and the World Cup finals in Meribel.

(Writing by Francois Thomazeau, editing by Ed Osmond)

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