Triple triumph in Val d'Isère: Loïc Meillard wins the giant slalom ahead of the surprising Luca Aerni and serial winner Marco Odermatt. The voices of the three podium heroes.
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- Switzerland celebrates a triple triumph in the giant slalom in Val d'Isère: Loïc Meillard wins ahead of Luca Aerni and Marco Odermatt.
- It is Aerni's first World Cup podium in this discipline. His team-mates are also delighted for the 32-year-old.
- Odermatt is not completely satisfied with his performance and admits: "After the downhill, I definitely didn't think I would make it onto the podium."
What a race in Val d'Isère: After the Swiss giant slalom cracks were still just behind the podium in the first run and positioned themselves in the lead, Loïc Meillard, Luca Aerni and Marco Odermatt really turned up the heat in the second run and secured a one-two-three victory! The only drop of bitterness from a Swiss perspective: Thomas Tumler, who drops back from 7th to 22nd place.
Aerni, on the other hand, makes the biggest leap forward. With the second-best run time, he actually jumps up from 13th place to 2nd place and is on the World Cup podium for the first time ever in a giant slalom. Meillard finishes halfway through the race in fifth place, while Odermatt improves from fourth to third place. What the three podium racers had to say in the SRF interview after the race:
🥇 Loïc Meillard
"Unbelievable. A triple victory is always very special. We've worked a lot in the last two weeks, put in a lot of kilometers and that has paid off. If I had finished fourth, I would have been happy too, because it would have been a good step forward.
It's very cool for Luca. In the last two years he has worked a lot on it in the Giant and made very good steps. Today he showed that he can finish on the podium. It's incredible for the team.
There will be no celebrating today, tomorrow is the slalom. But it's nice that the fan club can enjoy this victory on site."
🥈 Luca Aerni
"This means a lot to me. I've noticed over the last few weeks that I'm pulling on the skis again. I skied very well in the first run, but had this mistake. Then I wanted to ski like that again in the second run, but without any mistakes. I gave it my all again at the bottom. It's a very cool slope here.
You always have to take the mistakes with you, that also has a meaning somehow. Maybe otherwise I wouldn't have attacked like that on the second run. And then to be on the podium with Loïc and Odi is brilliant."
🥉 Marco Odermatt
"Unbelievable. After the downswing, I definitely didn't think I'd make it onto the podium. I only realized later that Luca was still in second place. I saw Loïc. Mega cool.
To be honest, the second run wasn't very good either. I didn't get in at the top. I generally didn't manage the same excitement today as I did in Beaver Creek. There I was really focused from start to finish. It was more difficult today.
I realized at the top that I had already lost a lot of time. Then I started to stitch. That's faster, but the feeling is a bit worse. It was a mess."
