Beaver Creek (USA) (AFP)

American surprise at Beaver Creek! The unsung Tommy Ford won in the giant Sunday, signing the first victory of his career in the World Cup ahead of Norwegians Henrik Kristoffersen and Leif Kristian Nestvold-Haugen.

More advanced "birds of prey" were expected on the Birds of Prey. And if Kristoffersen, winner of the last slalom of Levi, Finland, held his rank, his rival, the Frenchman Alexis Pinturault, winner of the first giant of the season in Sölden, disappointed with a 17th place finish far from his claims.

If Ford was the one who had the engine in this last day of competition in Colorado, it was also the most pressure-proof by achieving the second fastest time of the second round after summer fastest in the first .

In the end, he relegated Kristoffersen to 80 / 100th and Nestvold-Haugen to 1 sec 23 / 100th.

At 30, the native of Bend, Oregon, opens his counter victories in the World Cup, after eleven seasons contested. His best ranking so far was a 4th place on the giant Sölden, October 27, heralding its great progress this year.

- Amazing Sarrazin -

Henrik Kristoffersen, third after the first act, believed in his star after being faster than Nestvold-Haugen to overtake him on both sets, but Ford made a second almost perfect run.

The Norwegian is no less the good operation of the day since he made a jump of seven places in the overall ranking of the World Cup to be 4th.

The top trio is unchanged: the Austrian Matthias Mayer, 19th of the giant, remains leader (233 pts), ahead of his compatriot Vincent Kriechmayr (212) and the Italian Dominik Paris in (204). Ford integrates him the top 10.

Pinturault, who like Kristoffersen's ambition to succeed the master Marcel Hirsher, retired tracks for the big Crystal Globe, missed him an opportunity to collect points. What he managed to do on Friday during the first run, which is not his specialty. He remains 8th overall.

Other Frenchmen were well illustrated, Victor Muffat-Jeandet was ranked 5th, 55 / 100th of the podium, followed in 6th place by Mathieu Faivre.

But the one who impressed everyone is called Cyprien Sarrazin. He set the fastest time of the second run after being drafted for the race, benefiting from the disqualification of Slovakia's Adam Zampa.

In the end, he ranks 13th in the giant, picking up his first twenty points of the season overall (62nd).

© 2019 AFP