French anger at new alpine rule: "What a joke"

It was during the FIS annual conference this weekend that the new rules in the combination were published. Instead of turning on the starting order after the speed limit, the placement there will be the rider's starting number in the slalom.

Anyone who knows anything about alpine skiing knows it's best to start. The slopes are of the highest quality for starting number one and a high level of riding is required to tackle an uphill path. The new rules thus benefit the vessels.

A decision that supports 70 per cent of the surveyed riders, after a survey, but which has created French anger.

- Thanks FIS for this, really a big step forward! What a joke !, writes French slalom specialist Julien Lizeroux on Twitter.

In the comment field on Lizeroux's tweet, Slovenian speed queen Ilka Štuhec's commentary can be seen.

- I actually like the (smiley) question the boaters (smiley with gloria).

SVT Sports expert Pernilla Wiberg, who has won both Olympic and World Championship gold in combination, is on the same track.

- I think it's great. After all, I'm an old world champion and Olympic champion in combination so it's clear that I like this branch, says Wiberg, adding:

- What I have said to everyone who has complained is that "yes, but train more slalom then if you are bad at it". It's fun that it's moving and I think this is a good grip.

Many people thought that the alpine combination was moving away from the competition schedule. The FIS Alpine Committee presented a proposal during the Åre World Cup at the beginning of the year, which meant that the combination would be scrapped.

The FIS board, which rarely goes against the committee's proposal, then made the unexpected decision: The alpine combination would still remain and this week came the message of the rule change after the skiers were asked.

- It was, as I know it, the first real democratic decision. Great fun !, says Pernilla Wiberg, who attended the FIS conference as chair of a working group on security.

Whether the riders who responded to the survey are predominantly skiers or not are official.

Also in parallel slalom there will be changes this season. All to make it, according to FIS, more "TV-friendly". Instead of the 32 riders who have passed on from the qualification to choose a course in the elimination phase, the course choice will be drawn.