Sölden (Austria) (AFP)

"Odi" was 07 / 100th ahead of Austrian Roland Leitinger, surprise of the day in front of his boiling hot supporters, and 10 / 100th of Slovenian Zan Kranjec, after a very close race under the Austrian sun.

"For three, four years, we have seen more and more excellent + giantists + and excellent slalomers and we see that the battle is more and more difficult", noted Pinturault, still in search of his best feelings.

"Marco is a whole, very good. And we see that the Swiss are present (also with Gino Caviezel 4th, editor's note), they notably have training places that nobody really has at this time of year ", added the French, winner last year of his first big globe.

Odermatt won, at 24, his fifth World Cup victory, his third in a giant, on a track where he finished second last year, behind the Norwegian Lucas Braathen (7th Sunday, setting the best time in the second handle).

"A lot of confidence"

Considered an early genius of alpine skiing, the Swiss came very close to the big globe in the spring, failing just behind Pinturault after a frustrating end to the season with the cancellation of the downhill and super-G finals which were favorable to him. .

He ticks all the boxes to soon dominate world skiing.

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt celebrates his victory on the podium of the giant of Sölden on October 24, 2021 Johann GRODER APA / AFP

"It's fabulous. We always work a lot in the summer and we never really know where we are. Winning the first race obviously gives a lot of confidence for the rest of the season," said Marco Odermatt at a press conference.

"Winning the big globe? We will take things race by race, but it is obviously a big objective for the season. Having finished second last year, we obviously always want to do better," he added. .

This comeback gave rise to a close duel with no less than eleven skiers taking place in less than a second, the last of them being the world champion of the specialty, the French Mathieu Faivre, at the gates of the top 10 in 98 / 100th after setting the second fastest time in the first round.

Waiting for Kilde

The large audience, decided to make the foghorns heard after a season behind closed doors, found something to ignite for the Austrian Roland Leitinger.

Best time of the first round, he resisted well in the second to clinch the third podium of his career (one at the Worlds in 2017, two in the World Cup).

At the end of October, there is no question of freezing the hierarchy: snow is still rare around the arrival area of ​​Sölden and some skiers are still in preparation, three months before the start of the Olympic Games in Beijing winter (February 4-20).

Alexis Pinturault, for example, was not too worried about his fifth place: "In Sölden, you have to be present, but where the season really starts is only at the end of November, the beginning of December".

The favorites will then be completed with the expected return of the 2020 World Cup winner, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.

The Norwegian, victim in January of a rupture of a cruciate ligament of the right knee, was present Saturday in Austria to celebrate the 70th victory of his companion Mikaela Shiffrin, but also to resume competition, he decided to wait for the speed events at the end of November in Canada.

© 2021 AFP