A week after his triumph in Levi, Finland, Clement Noel once again set the pace in the first run of the race in Gurgl on Sunday to claim another victory in the Slalom. The Frenchman relegated the Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath to second place with a lead of 0.88 seconds and Steven Amiez with 0.94 seconds.
In the second run, Noel managed to defend his Top position against the attack from Swedish Kristoffer Jakobsen. In the end, he was able to hold off Jakobsen (+0.44) and Atle Lie McGrath (+0.45). Noel's second run was far from perfect, it was only the 20th fastest, but his huge lead from the first run allowed him to win despite making several mistakes.
Reigning Olympic Slalom Champion Clement Noël now has 12 World Cup Slalom victories and 26 individual podiums to his name. Among skiers representing France (including women), only Perrine Pelen (15) and Jean Noël Augert (13) have won more World Cup slalom races than Noël. Among skiers representing France (including women), only Perrine Pelen (15) and Jean Noël Augert (13) have won more Alpine Ski World Cup SDlalom races than Noël.
"It was unbelievable. I was under a lot of stress in the second run. Starting last is always difficult. It was a battle, but I'm very happy that I made it. I want to use this momentum and my confidence. It will be nice to start the slalom in Val d'Isere with the red bib," said Noel.
Kristoffer Jakobsen jumped from eighth to second place with a fast second run and achieved his fourth World Cup Podium. Achieved a career-best result by finishing second for the third time. He achieved a career-best result by finishing second for the third time.
"The conditions were difficult. I didn't know whether to play it safe or push hard. I'm really happy with my result. But normally I don't care about results. When I ski, I ski. I went out there and did my best," said Jakobsen.
Atle Lie McGrath claimed his second podium of the season today, following his third place at the season opener in Sölden. It's his 11th podium in the Alpine Ski World Cup and 7th in the Slalom. As in Sölden, he finished just one-hundredth of a second behind the runner-up.
"I am very happy to be back on the podium. I didn't have a good feeling during the runs, but my skiing was good. It was a good race for me," said the Norwegian.
The 26-year-old French skier Steven Amiez, who was in third place after the first run, ultimately finished in fourth position and narrowly missed the chance to add another podium finish to the Amiez family legacy. His father, Sébastien Amiez, had an impressive career, achieving ten podium finishes and one win in Slalom World Cup events between 1995 and 2001.
Eighteen of the 62 competitors, including last year's Gurgl winner Manuel Feller, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, and Marcel Hirscher, failed to finish the first run on an icy and steep slope.
"I gave it my all, but I just couldn't find myself out there today. I just didn't feel connected from the start; it's a tough day to be a slalom skier out here today," Pinheiro Braathen said.
"I'm not even angry, it's a continuation of Levi. It's no fun. But it's also a new experience for me, I've never experienced anything like it before. Physically I'm fit; I'm also fully motivated. It was all right at the top, but then it got icy and it was all over. Something is wrong. I have to make sure that it gets better quickly. The focus remains on both disciplines. They feed off each other," Hirscher said.
There were 9,800 spectators at the Men's Slalom in Gurgl today. With yesterday's crowd of 7,900, the total number of spectators at the Alpine Ski World Cup in Gurgl is 17,700.
Comments