Loïc Meillard delivers once again in the slalom. The Frenchman finishes third in Val d'Isère, as he did in Levi. The Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen wins ahead of his compatriot Atle Lie McGrath.
Slalom in Val d'Isère
- 1. Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR)
- 2nd Atle Lie McGrath (NOR), + 0.52
- 3rd Loïc Meillard (SUI), + 0.89
- 4th Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA), + 0.95
- 4th Manuel Feller (AUT), + 0.95
- 6th Samuel Kolega (KRO), + 1.07
- 7th Tobias Kastlunger (ITA), + 1.13
- 8th Timon Haugan (NOR), + 1.20
- 9th Dave Ryding (GBR), + 1.22
- 10th Alex Vinatzer (ITA), + 1.27
Meillard made up three positions in the second run - and once again showed that he knows how to deal with his back problems. After the successful start in Finland, he finished fifth in Gurgl in the Ötztal. This latest performance is all the more impressive given that Meillard, who was recently in the USA with Marco Odermatt and Co. for the races in Beaver Creek, has not been able to complete a single day of slalom training in the past three weeks. "It wasn't easy, but it worked well," said Meillard to SRF after the race.
His colleagues from the slalom team were unable to keep up with Meillard on Sunday. The second best Swiss was Luca Aerni. The day after his coup with 4th place in the giant slalom, the man from Bern found himself in 18th place. Daniel Yule is one disappointment richer. The helpless Valais skier had to settle for 20th place. Tanguy Nef from Geneva, in 14th place after the first run, was eliminated.
Kristoffersen won the World Cup for the first time in almost two years following his triumph in the slalom in Wengen. In Val d'Isère, the northerner dominated for the third time; he had already been the best eight and nine years ago.
With this latest success, he completed his second dozen victories in World Cup slaloms. He distanced compatriot McGrath by a good half a second, with Meillard 89 hundredths behind in the final rankings. Frenchman Steven Amiez, who was leading after the first run, failed his second run after just a few seconds.
Behind Meillard were Manuel Feller and Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who were on the same time. The Austrian, who delivered his first countable result this winter after four retirements, had been in third place after half the stint. The Norwegian, now competing for Brazil, made up no less than 22 places in the decision.
Clément Noël was not at the start. As feared, the Frenchman, winner of the first two slaloms of the winter in Levi and Gurgl, had to withdraw after his crash the day before in the first run of the giant slalom. The Olympic champion suffered a sprained left ankle, among other injuries, in the heavy fall.
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