Henrik Kristoffersen achieved a remarkable victory, leading a Norwegian one-two finish on the podium at the Slalom World Cup in Val d'Isere. He beat his teammate Atle Lie McGrath by 0.52 seconds. Loic Meillard finished in third place 0.89 seconds behind. Tied for fourth place were Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Manuel Feller 0.95 seconds off the pace. The Brazilian climbed up an impressive 22 places in the second run.
It's Henrik Kristoffersen's third victory in the Slalom at La Face de Bellevarde in Val d’Isere, after winning in 2015 and 2016. It's his first victory in Slalom in almost two years. On January 15, 2023, Kristoffersen celebrated his last Slalom World Cup victory in Wengen. Today, the 30-year-old skier celebrated his 24th Slalom and his 31st Alpine Ski World Cup victory.
The Norwegian is leading the overall, Slalom, and Giant Slalom standings. Clement Noel, who led the Slalom rankings after winning the first two Slalom races in Levi and Gurgl, did not start today after crashing in Saturday's Giant Slalom.
"It was a great day, but also a difficult day. Sometimes it's good to have experience. I haven't won here for eight years, which is very good because now they can't say, It's been a long time, huh? I didn't feel so good in the second run. But when you come away with a win, you have to be happy. Eight years after my first win in Val d'Isere, I'm back. The material is working great, the setup is working really well with the skis, boots, and bindings. We struggled with the setup last year. I also have a different serviceman now who is working better, everything is working well," Kristoffersen said.
Atle Lie McGrath scores his third podium of the season with a second-place finish in today's Slalom in Val d'Isere. For the Norwegian, it's his twelfth podium in the Alpine World Cup.
"Skiing was really fun today and when you cross the finish line with green lights then it's even better. I could not push 100% in the first run but when I saw Lucas in the second run, I thought to myself, hell, I have to ski fullgas now. I am really happy with my results this season and I can enjoy ski racing. I don't feel any pressure, not even from myself, so that's great. Val d'Isere was not always very friendly to me but now we are friends!," McGrath said.
Loic Meillard claimed the eighth Slalom podium of his World Cup career today in Val d'Isere.
"It was not the easiest weekend to ski but I tried my best, and to finish on the podium is pretty cool. Even though I haven't been able to train recently, I had to trust in my ability. It worked well. Up until now, I've always been in the top 5 in the Slalom - there's still a bit of work to do in the Giant Slalom," Meillard said.
Steven Amiez, who is in search of his first World Cup podium, was in the lead after the first run, but lost an edge at the top of the course in the second run and did not finish.
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