One knit stitch, one purl stitch. After a mastered first run and finished with the best time, Clément Noël failed to finish the second run of the Chamonix slalom (Haute-Savoie), Saturday February 4, counting for the World Cup. Having made a mistake, he gave up the victory to the Swiss Ramon Zenhäusern, who won by overtaking the Greek AJ Ginnis – who offered a first podium in alpine skiing to Greece thanks to a rise of 23 places – and his compatriot Daniel Yule .
Two days before the opening of the Courchevel-Méribel world championships, the Vosgien can still have some hope for the French stage, which he had already won in 2020 and 2021. "It's not easy, you go from everything to nothing when you are leading the first round in front of the French public, he regretted, after his mistake, on L'Equipe TV. It's hard to swallow here in France. I had good skiing today, not everything to throw away, but it's disappointing. In two days, I will be able to come out of the positive [of this race]. There were really good things. »
In the wake of his first victory this year, obtained in Schladming (Austria), on January 24, the reigning Olympic champion in the discipline started his day perfectly thanks to a first run concluded in the lead with, respectively, fifteen and ten- seven hundredths of a second on his pursuers.
Aggressive from the top of the route on La Verte des Houches, near Chamonix, he almost made a mistake in the first part before being faster than the competition at the end of the route. "It's quite a good run, there was a way to do even better, but we're largely going to be satisfied with that," he analyzed at the microphone of L'Equipe TV. The bulk of the work is to be done in the second [round]. »
Fourth retirement of the season
The pressure was high for the native of Remiremont (Vosges), the last skier – and only tricolor – to start in the second run. In the rhythm on the top of the course, he quickly made an inside fault before straddling a few stakes lower, synonymous with abandonment. "It's a basic technical foul," he mused after the finish.
Eighth in the slalom World Cup after eight events out of ten, Clément Noël fell back into his failings at the start of the season. This is already his fourth retirement after three faults in the first four races. Before returning to success at night in Schaldming, he had struggled in Wengen (6th), Switzerland, and Kitzbühel (8th), Austria.
The only tricolor winner of this season in the World Cup, the skier from Val-d'Isère remains despite everything one of the best chances of a French medal at the world championships in Courchevel-Méribel, whose slalom is scheduled for the close on 19 FEBRUARY.
