Frenchman eases to comfortable win in foggy Finland over main season rivals Kristoffersen and Meillard.
November 17, 2024
Frenchman Clément Noël cruised to victory at the 2024/25 FIS World Cup slalom season opener at Levi in Finland on Sunday as Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen and Swiss skier Loïc Meillard completed the podium.
– With Alexander Steen Olsen winning the giant slalom season opener from compatriots Kristoffersen and Atle Lie McGrath in Sölden last month, it was the turn of the slalom experts this weekend.
– Sunday’s morning conditions were foggy and icy for the stacked men’s field, which included alpine legend Marcel Hirscher who was competing for the Netherlands on his return to the sport.
– Third down the course, Noël put down a brilliant first run of 59.67s that only Meillard (59.69s), France’s Steven Amiez (59.88s) and German Linus Strasser (59.97s) could get close to.
– Hirscher’s time of 1:02.26 meant that he did not qualify for the second run as the likes of Italy’s Alex Vinatzer also struggled in the icy conditions and course set by the British team.
– Second time around, Lucas Pinheiro Braathen – who has switched his nationality to Brazil from Norway – produced a superb run of 54.50s to eventually finish fourth after being 10th following the first run.
– Three-time FIS World Cup slalom champion Kristoffersen then stormed down the course to record the best second run to top the standings with Meillard then finishing 0.15s behind him on the day.
– Noël, though, held his nerve to record a time of 54.31 – second only to Kristoffersen on the final run – to secure a comfortable victory by 0.80s which is his 11th FIS World Cup one and first since January 2023, all in slalom.
– It was a reverse of the race from five years ago when Kristoffersen edged out Noël with the Norwegian claiming his 88th FIS World Cup podium this time around and Meillard his 22nd back in third place.
– Noël, 27, said: “Really, really great day to start to the season. The feeling was way better for me in second run than in first run. First run I was quite surprised to be in the lead because I was not really comfortable on the snow, but then in the second run I was way better. I changed a few things on my set up and I was way more comfortable in the steep part. I knew that Henrik set the bar high in the pitch, so I just tried to push really hard because I knew it was tight.”
– Kristoffersen, 30, said: “Clément was definitely one step better than us today. The second run was more to attack. It was still missing a few points but it was solid skiing and that’s what was important to do today for me. To finish on the podium is really amazing.”
– On his return from a tweaked back, Meillard, 28, said: “Definitely a great start. It showed I can ski fast and that I am ready for the next races. It (his back) felt good in training. I knew I should try to go for it.”
– Pinheiro Braathen, 24, said: “To be able to go back-to-back on top results in my return is one hell of a relief. This might have been the slickest race that I’ve ever skied in my life, so I was really proud of how I was able to convert that, to be able to handle it. Just such a cool day.”
– Hirscher, 35, revealed: “The first few gates felt good. I had grip, and everything was on track, but at the ninth gate, where the roller was, I thought to myself, ‘OK bye-bye’. From there, it was a fight all the way down. I’ve never seen conditions this icy before – it was sheer, solid ice. Yesterday, I was certain I’d go to Gurgl (next slalom race). Today, I’m not so sure. It’s clear that I’m not 100% ready. I need to work on finding grip. We’ll have to see the video analysis to see what can be improved.”