Paris (AFP)

Lindsey Vonn, Marcel Hirscher and Aksel Lund Svindal ... In one summer, the clan of the great stars of alpine skiing melted like snow in the sun, leaving a significant void, which opens the way to the advent of new stars of the winter.

Undoubtedly, it is the retirement of Lindsey Vonn that weighs most in the balance. The 35-year-old American was THE undisputed queen of skiing, the only one (women and men combined) whose notoriety has exceeded the framework of her sport thanks to her extraordinary record, her covers of major magazines and her public connections with golfer Tiger Woods and then American footballer PK Subban.

With 4.4 million followers on social networks (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), Lindsey Vonn has double the cumulative audience of the 20 best skiers (10 men, 10 women) today ...

To take up the torch, the obvious: his compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin. The triple champion of the big globe crushes the circuit, wins in all disciplines and seems on the way to beat all the records of alpine skiing, in particular the 86 World Cup victories of the Swedish Ingemar Stenmark on which Vonn broke his teeth ( 82 wins). At only 24, Shiffrin already has 62 victories and remains on a record 2018/2019 season, with 17 successes.

Notoriety point of view, the Colorado skier also sets out to follow Vonn's example: very present on social networks (1.4 million followers), she multiplies image contracts and television shows with, this summer, the animation of a youth program with the new attraction of the American basketball Zion Williamson. Enough to become the face of alpine skiing?

"I appreciate all of this, but I feel like the media in general got everything they wanted from me," she told USA Today. "I feel like people are going maybe tired of hearing about me. So I don't really know if there is room left for + give + more. "

- "It's a cycle" -

During this "white" season (without the Olympic Games or the World Championships), alpine skiing must find new faces to conquer an audience with a very uneven presence throughout the winter.

"Young people will arrive and make their place, it's a cycle, at some point they had to stop, puts French world champion Tessa Worley into perspective about the summer retirements. Mikaela (Shiffrin) for a little while, it doesn't worry me too much. "

In men, the cessation of the eightfold holding the Austrian title of the big globe Marcel Hirscher, little media outside the world of skiing, has the virtue of relaunching the suspense: the finals of Cortina d'Ampezzo (in Italy, a year before hosting the Worlds) should crown an unprecedented winner in March 2020, given that the only winner still in activity, the Swiss Carlo Janka (in 2011), has not had any convincing results for many years.

On the front line for Hirscher's estate are the two favorite ex-victims of the Austrian who share his technician profile (slalom and giant): the Frenchman Alexis Pinturault (two victories but two disappointments in slalom and giant for the 'instant) and the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen (two podiums including a victory).

"Yes, big names have left this summer, but big names are forged over the years and with the results, analyzes the Frenchman, aged 28. There are still some on the circuit who are already among the best despite their young age. The attractiveness will not change, except perhaps for the Austrians who are missing their best athlete "since the departure of Hirscher.

"I can take more light, but I need the results, the two go together," he emphasizes. "You will have to ski fast first."

© 2019 AFP