Redkozubov beaten in Matrei

There was a further upset in the men’s standing, with Russia’s Alexander Alyabyev (1:39.79) taking first place after his Paralympic champion teammate Alexey Bugaev did not finish his slalom run.

The Slovakian duo of Miroslav Haraus and Jakob Krako finally broke the early season dominance of Russia’s super-combined Paralympic champion Valerii Redkozubov at the IPC Alpine Skiing Europa Cup in Matrei, Austria, on Friday (16 January).

Redkozubov with guide Evgeny Geroev has been in sensational form so far this season in the men’s visually impaired class, winning multiple World and Europa Cup races.

However in Friday’s super combined races, featuring super-G and slalom, the pair could only manage third as the Slovakians took the top two podium places.

After finishing more than a second faster than the rest of the field in super-G, Haraus (1:39.85) and guide Maros Hudik took first place. Teammates Krako (1:40.27) and guide Martin Motyka were quickest in the slalom to propel themselves up from fourth after super-G to second overall.

There was a further upset in the men’s standing, with Russia’s Alexander Alyabyev (1:39.79) taking first place after his Paralympic champion teammate Alexey Bugaev did not finish his slalom run.

Christoph Schneider (1:40.80), competing on home snow, took second, whilst New Zealand’s Adam Hall (1:40.89) was a very close third.

The women’s equivalent saw Germany’s Paralympic and World silver medallist Andrea Rothfuss (1:47.24) storm to victory with the fastest super-G and slalom runs.

Russia’s Inga Medvedeva (1:54.26) took her latest podium in second whilst compatriot Mariia Papulova (1:56.08) completed the top three.

There was delight for the hosts when reigning world champion Claudia Loesch (1:49.51) took first place in the women’s sitting race, nearly 14 seconds clear of second place finisher Japan’s Momoka Muraoka (2:03.33). Germany’s Ruth Hagspiel (2:04.11) was third.

Japan secured another podium in the men’s sitting after world champion Taiki Morii (1:40.65) claimed his second win of 2014-15 in a race that saw just 0.59 seconds separate the top four.

Austria’s Roman Rabl and Germany’s Thomas Nolte tied for second after both clocked 1:40.83.

Skiers are in Matrei for the latest Europa Cup ahead of the 2015 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, which take place in Panorama, Canada, from 28 February – 10 March.

Races continue on Saturday (17 January), with giant slalom.

Results are available at IPC Alpine Skiing's website.