In extremely difficult conditions on salty snow and with spring temperatures in the first run, Henrik Kristoffersen relegated the competition to more than a second and won his third victory on the Gudiberg track, like the illustrious Italian Alberto Tomba .

To sculpt part of his little crystal globe of the specialty last season, "Kristo" had won the two slaloms disputed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the end of February 2022, after the Olympic Games.

Suffice to say that he appreciates this track, with these conditions and these mild temperatures.

By winning a third time in Garmisch, Kristoffersen joins the legend of tight pickets, the Italian Alberto Tomba, the only one who had so far climbed to the top step of the podium three times (1993, 1994, 1995 ).

Thanks to his first victory of the season, Kristoffersen took the lead in the specialty classification, with 220 points, taking advantage of the elimination in the first moto of the leader before the race, his compatriot Lucas Braathen.

The Austrian Manuel Feller, second in Garmisch, and the Swiss Daniel Yule, fourth, also pass in front of Braathen, in a very tight classification while the month of January will make it possible to see things more clearly with six slaloms scheduled in thirty days.

"In these conditions, he is very, very strong. And in the conditions I had today and in the state of mind I was in, I couldn't go after him," commented the champion. French Olympian Clément Noël after the race.

Frenchman Clément Noël delighted with his place on the Garmisch-Partenkirchen slalom, January 4, 2023 © Angelika Warmuth / dpa/AFP

"I was a little freaked out"

After having straddled the first two World Cup slaloms, Noël had arrived in Bavaria on tiptoe.

"I was a bit like that at the start," he mimed after the race with a shaking hand.

"I was a little freaked out, because I knew full well that I had to be down there, and that the error was going to happen super fast, because the conditions were very difficult," he said.

Noël also did not have good memories of this track, which he came out of twice last season, a few days after his Olympic title.

"I don't like the track," he admitted.

"I'm really happy with the way I built my race. It's smart, it's correct. The ski produced is not exceptional, I can do better than that, I know it", slipped Clément Noël.

Clément Noël on the night slalom track in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, January 4, 2023 © Angelika Warmuth / dpa/AFP

"I said to myself that today Top 5 or podium was good, whereas I usually do the races to win them. I'm happy, it's not huge emotions, but it starts my month of January, it feels good", he concluded.

The month of January promises to be plentiful with five new slaloms to be contested in less than thirty days to gain momentum until the Courchevel-Méribel Worlds in mid-February.

Next step, weather permitting, Adelboden and its "Chuenisbärgli".

"I made my first podium there and since then it's a bit + I love you neither +. I won races there several times. I don't really like the track, but I know that I can ski well there," he concluded.

© 2023 AFP