What use is the best journey if it only reaches the penultimate gate.
The French slalom expert Clement Noel drove towards a seemingly safe victory in the night slalom in Madonna di Campiglio on Wednesday evening - before he slipped on the penultimate goal, fell and slid across the finish line on his stomach.
With a lead of 1.01 seconds, but unfortunately missed the last goal: Disqualified.
Achim Dreis
Sports editor.
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“It's a shame for Noel, he was the fastest,” said Sebastian Foss-Solevaag himself, who profited from the Frenchman's mishap.
The slalom world champion from Norway ultimately won in 1: 34.59 seconds, just ahead of overall World Cup winner Alexis Pinturault (+0.10 seconds / France) and Sweden's Kristoffer Jakobsen (+0.11).
The German participants experienced a debacle: Linus Straßer got exactly to the fifth goal before he threaded.
The 29-year-old from Munich thus remains at zero points after the second slalom, after having missed the final in 32nd place at the start in Val d'Isère.
"That was very unfortunate," said Wolfgang Maier, Alpine Director of the German Ski Association (DSV).
Strasser's team-mates couldn't convince either: Fabian Himmelsbach (Sonthofen / 34th), Julian Rauchfuss (Mindelheim / 36th) and Anton Tremmel (Rottach-Egern / 48th) missed the second run. David Ketterer (Schwenningen) retired.
In the Slalom World Cup, Foss-Solevaag and Jakobsen now moved up to the top position with 140 points each, where Noel would actually be with 200 points after he had already won the season opener in Val d'Isère.
But then came the nice presents for the French, whose cash on delivery means "Christmas".
Noel had to carry his package, but took it sportily: "Difficult to accept, but that's also what makes our sport so magical," he wrote on Instagram next to a photo that shows him lying on his back directed towards infinity.
He added “huge congratulations” to the winners and thanked “all athletes for their kind words” for encouragement.