Paris (AFP)

Alexis Pinturault, passed to a breath of victory in the general classification of the World Cup (54 points behind the Norwegian Aleksander Aamodt Kilde) at the end of a late season truncated by the coronavirus pandemic, slowly digests his disappointment with a motivation he said to AFP "difficult to find" in full containment.

QUESTION: What feeling dominates three weeks after the end of the season (the last six races have been canceled)?

ANSWER: "At the time I was necessarily disappointed, it was something special, many races were canceled, especially technical races in my favor. I had a great taste for unfinished business, something that stopped where I could not play all my cards. But it was rather easy to digest and accept given the circumstances and the news. "

Q: Could the International Ski Federation have stopped the season earlier?

A: "Of course, after the fact, we can ask ourselves the question. The decision should have been taken after Hinterstoder (Austria, from February 29 to March 2) because it was the last wee-kend with as many technical races as speed (a handset, a super-G, a giant) (...) but a lot of things come into account. The economic aspect with the international federation which earns its living with TV rights, the national federations also make their living thanks to these rights, ski brands too ... "

Q: If the stop had been taken after Hinterstoder you were at the top of the ranking and you would have won ...

A: "Yes after Hinterstoder it would have made me win. After Kvitfjell (Norway, a descent on March 7) the descenders had more races than us, which made a difference. We had five canceled technical races in the winter, the descenders only three (...) But I have to see things positively. This winter was my best winter, the one where I had the most victories (six, he was the skier the more prolific) despite the fact that there were fewer races. "

Q: Do you already have the flame for next year?

A: "It's a bit early, this end of the season still struck me, it was a lot of disappointment. In addition to that, we're all a bit amorphous, at home, we don't do a lot, we try to keep busy but we end up staying a lot of cloistered hours at home between four walls. There, the motivation is difficult to find. "

Q: How are confinement days going?

A: "This is more normally the rest period. It's fairly calm physical level, I have to start the + prep + again around April 15. Despite this, every day I do an hour of sport (...) The advantage is that I spend a lot of time with my family. It's been a very long time since I had spent so much time with my loved ones, it's fun and living these moments in a much better way. stayed in Courchevel at the hotel (Annapurna, a five star owned by his father) although it is closed, we will say that it is a "golden prison". "

Q: Do you plan on following?

A: "We don't know when the glaciers will be able to open and if they will be able to open, where will we be able to go and when? Normally we make plans, we program physical training, the return on all of that will have to be done day by day. "

Q: Is skiing lost without practice?

A: "It is not forgotten. But we always need a few days of skiing. The minimum is four, five days in each discipline to find a correct level. Then we need two, three days in each discipline to endorse things and get back to our best level. "

Q: How do you manage the development of the material (tests are usually done this season)?

A: "We had discussions, the bases of work are given. On the other hand to launch skis, people must be at the factory, that the employees can work, and for that it will be necessary to wait for the end of confinement Head, my equipment supplier, is in Austria. We will wait to see how things develop. The development of the equipment is very important but if nobody can ski, nobody can develop skis and there will be few developments this year . "

Interview by Robin GREMMEL

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