Val d'Isère (France) (AFP)

The Slovenian Martin Cater won on the descent of Val d'Isère on Sunday, at the end of a race where the world hierarchy was shaken, while the "grandpa", Johan Clarey, resisted.

Austrian Otmar Striedinger (22 / 100th) and Swiss Urs Kryenbühl (27 / 100th) completed the podium at the foot of the Oreiller-Killy piste, where not a single morning favorite is on the box.

Martin Cater, who started with bib 41, won at a time when no one expected him here, he who had never done better than 6th in the World Cup.

"Looks like I skied fast," said the man who will be turning 28 in a week.

His victory in the Haute-Tarentaise resort caused a sensation, far from his 19th place during the Olympic descent from Pyeongchang in 2018.

The three outsiders who stood out (only four podiums between them before this race ...) made a point of shaking up the established order, with top names not yet at their best, for a return to the slopes of speed nine months after the last descent of a season interrupted by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

- Kilde 4th -

In this new situation, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde is doing the best.

The last winner of the big crystal globe finished at the foot of the podium.

"The objective is accomplished", affirms the Norwegian by swearing that he does not have "the eyes riveted on the general classification" where the Frenchman Alexis Pinturault throne since Saturday, at the end of a super-G disputed under conditions complicated weather with poor visibility.

Nothing to do with the good weather on Sunday.

The sun even warmed the snow at La Daille and the wind behind the back felt on the top of the track for the high numbers could explain the surprise Cater, who left around 12:20 pm.

Another sign that no one saw him there: some journalists had already left the mixed zone on his arrival, thinking the mass said ...

Annoyed on Saturday by a disappointing 37th place, Johan Clarey, the best French luck on paper, and author of two podiums in the main discipline of alpine skiing last season at Beaver Creek and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, held his rank.

The one who will celebrate his 40th birthday in January finishes 5th.

"I'm still in the game, it means that I had a good preparation, it gives me great confidence for the rest of the season", details the rider, still looking for a victory in the World Cup, in a slowly maturing discipline.

Why not next week?

"I arrive in Val Gardena which I love, I did two podiums there."

- "Really good" -

Mixed feeling on the other hand for Adrien Théaux, seriously injured in the right knee in January.

The last French winner in the World Cup (Santa Caterina, 2015) ranks 24th.

"I'm stupid enough not to be happy," said the 36-year-old competitor, still satisfied to have returned to the circuit.

Also remember the fourteenth place of Valentin Giraud-Moine, best ranking since serious injuries to both knees in 2017. "It really feels good to see a good score again with a fairly full race", says the native of Gap, for whom "the small mistakes made are still due to a lack of confidence and sequence".

Among the other tricolors Nils Allegre (11th), Matthieu Bailet (21st), Nicolas Raffort (27th) scored points.

See you next weekend in the Dolomites for speed, with this unprecedented hierarchy to shake up.

The opportunity perhaps for some go-getters to move up a gear.

© 2020 AFP