Men's slalom in Gurgl
Men’s slalom in Gurgl, LIVE from 10.30 am
Clement Noel once again put the competition in its place in the Gurgl slalom on Sunday. The Frenchman triumphed ahead of Sweden's Kristoffer Jakobsen (+0.43) and Atle Lie McGrath from Norway (+0.44). Meanwhile, it was a bitter day for the Austrians. Fabio Gstrein was the best ÖSV athlete in ninth place.
Clement Noel remains the measure of all things in the slalom at the start of the season. The Frenchman also won the second World Cup slalom of the winter in Gurgl on Sunday, one week after Levi. The best Austrian was local hero Fabio Gstrein in ninth place. The ÖSV men are still without a podium finish in the World Cup season. Last year's winner Manuel Feller was eliminated in the first run, as were World Cup returnees Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Marcel Hirscher.
The final result:
In Levi, Noel had come out on top eight tenths of a second ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen. In Ötztal, the Olympic champion beat Sweden's Kristoffer Jakobsen (+0.43 sec.) and Norway's Atle Lie McGrath (+0.44) in front of 9,800 spectators, including FIS President Johan Eliasch. Noel proved his superiority in the icy conditions, especially in the first run, with a 0.88 second lead over McGrath. It was the 27-year-old's twelfth World Cup victory overall, his third on Austrian snow after Kitzbühel 2019 and Schladming 2023.
Feller practises gallows humor
Feller was one of the few to keep up with Noel in partial times in the first run, but faltered after a strong start and, after the giant slalom opener in Sölden and the Levi slalom, also failed to finish in the third race of the season. "Disappointing of course, the form would have been perfect," said the Tyrolean. "I attacked right from the start and went into the hairpin with too little height - that's slalom racing. It would be worse if I had to look for the time."
It's a shame that the first time he's ever dropped a thread all year happened in the race. It had never happened to him in training either, Feller assured us. But there would be no doubts about the failures. The 32-year-old practised gallows humor: "It's all tactics. Keep self-confidence high, keep expectations low. That'll be fine." In the previous season, the winner of the discipline World Cup in the slalom never dropped out and always finished in the top five.
Hirscher feels "out of place"
For Braathen, who is now competing for Brazil after a year out, it was the first setback after two fourth places, and the second for Hirscher, who is competing for the Netherlands. In Levi, the eight-time overall World Cup winner missed the second run in 46th place, this time he slipped on the ice slope. "I'm a bit out of place like this. It's not really fun," explained the 35-year-old. Tuning on the ice was difficult. "One of them hit it hard, unbelievable," said Hirscher about Noel.
Gstrein didn't fare quite as well in the second run as he did in the first, when he finished fourth. A mistake in the middle section cost the man from Ötztal a better position and the chance of his first World Cup podium. In the end, the 27-year-old was 0.97 seconds down on Noel.
The winner reported "a lot of stress" in the final, but also the favorable momentum. "It was very, very difficult, a big fight - but I'm very happy today. The French team is in form. Riding with the red jersey in Val d'Isere will be special," said Noel.
Not enough for a podium debut
Gstrein didn't fare quite as well in the second run as he had in the first, when he finished fourth. A mistake in the middle section cost the man from Ötztal a better position and the chance of his first World Cup podium. In the end, the 27-year-old was 0.97 seconds down on Noel. "Once again it didn't work out. Keep working and eliminate the mistakes, then it will work out at some point," said Gstrein. Being the best Austrian "also fits. You certainly want the Austrians to be further ahead".
The other Austrians also dropped back in the second run - Dominik Raschner from eleventh to twelfth, Adrian Pertl from 18th to 20th, Joshua Sturm from 17th to 25th and last year's third-placed Michael Matt from 19th to 29th. Olympic combined champion Johannes Strolz was eliminated in the first run, as was Christian Hirschbühl. Both had already failed to make it into the decision in Levi and are still waiting for their first result of the season.
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