No pass three in Wengen.
Winner of the slalom in the Swiss resort in 2019 and 2020 (there was no race in 2021), Clément Noël finished 8th this Sunday, just ahead of his compatriot Alexis Pinturault, but 51 hundredths from the winner Lucas Braathen.
The Norwegian managed the best comeback in the history of the World Cup, after only finishing 29th in the first run, where Noël had signed the fourth time.
8️⃣ and 9️⃣!@clement__noel and @AlexPinturault in the top 10 of the Wengen Slalom 🇫🇷🇫🇷
📸 Agence Zoom pic.twitter.com/52I0YLrE8n
— FFS - French Ski Federation (@FedFranceSki) January 16, 2022
As for the 24-year-old Vosgien, inevitably frustrated, he marked time after his superb success in Val d'Isère on December 12, followed by two off the track at Madonna di Campiglio then Adelboden.
Christmas now has an appointment in Austria in Kitzbühel then Schladming, on January 23 and 25, before switching to the Olympic Games.
The Xiaohaituo slalom is scheduled for February 16.
Until then, the fourth of the 2018 Olympics, which answered our questions before Wengen, must deal with the specter of the coronavirus which hovers as elsewhere.
With the Covid-19, it's a bit of psychosis as the Games approach.
How do you live this particular period?
We can't do much about it, we just try to be as careful as possible.
We have a sword of Damocles above our heads, we are all afraid of being positive, even without symptoms.
Because you can wear the mask every day, wash your hands regularly, be vaccinated with three doses and still have a positive test at the worst of times.
We are a bit prisoners of that, it's scary.
It's really not pleasant to live.
I do my best and if it has to happen at the worst of times, well it will happen.
I'll rail against the organization or against the context, but that's it.
You recently ranted by evoking “a lack of consistency” about the health protocol put in place for the Alpine Skiing World Cup.
Can we only speak of a health bubble?
Absolutely not.
We cannot speak of a health bubble.
Already because our hotels are open to the public.
From there, we are not in a bubble.
Tourists are not necessarily tested because to go to a hotel or a restaurant, you just need to be vaccinated.
On the other hand, to do a ski race, outdoors, with masks and barrier gestures, you must be vaccinated and tested.
Last year, it was easier, the stations were closed.
Afterwards, we are not always flawless either, I have no problem saying it, we can sometimes forget to put on our mask in the finish area for example.
How do we manage this risk of contamination which can deprive Olympic Games if it happens too close to the event?
We won't be going home very often and when I come back I only see my partner, who is being tested before I come back.
I hosted a friend at my place a while ago, he got tested before coming.
At Christmas like this, my whole family got tested before New Year's Eve.
We are afraid of that.
You have nevertheless decided not to ignore the World Cup.
Have you ever asked yourself the question?
No, for me the general classification of the World Cup is just as important as the rest, at least as important as the Olympics, if not more, and if I miss a World Cup race, it will be because I have a positive test or an injury.
After the quack at Madonna di Campiglio, you said it was perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of your career.
Looking back, how do you analyze this mistake at the last gate?
There's no great analysis to be done because, in the end, I didn't make any huge mistakes.
It's a small mistake just at the end, there is a bit of bad luck, it's a lack of concentration.
Maybe also that I saw myself winning too soon.
But, technically, I have nothing to question, my confidence has not been damaged, even if it is not easy to digest because I missed out on something great.
And even if it's a bit of a shame at the time, we'll say that there is worse and that there are above all a lot of positive things to take away from this day.
You have decided to launch yourself as a giant too.
How would you rate your learning so far?
I'm a little confused on that.
What is certain is that in the medium term, I want to do a second discipline, to have more races in the season and to have other objectives in addition to slalom.
Now this year I had to do three or four giants which didn't go well, I didn't have the progress I was hoping for.
As much as last year I had noted positive things, I had once entered the 30s and I was not far several times, so I imagined progressing more this season but no, it did not pay too much ultimately.
But what's good is that these giant training sessions (and there are many of them) help me for the slalom, I'm sure of it, and that's encouraging.
Afterwards, in training, I saw things that were better but it's still under construction.
So it won't be for now because I know that I still lack something to really approach the best.
But I see my room for improvement so I tell myself that it will be possible to do one day.
What are your areas of progress?
The technique, already.
To be better technically, there are plenty of factors that mean I don't have the right timing yet, the fact of extending the support more, things that are more natural in slalom but less so in giant.
But I think with miles of training I can manage to find a bit more of that.
Each skier being really different, it is difficult to ask for advice but on the other hand we can be inspired by others by watching their videos in training, seeing what they do well in order to adapt it to our own technique. .
Alexis Pinturault said recently that you had changed the codes of slalom.
What did he mean by that?
I think he's talking about my technique on the slalom.
It is true that in recent years it has evolved a lot.
I don't think I'm the only one, but it's true that I was perhaps the first to bring shorter supports, tighter lines, and higher angles, a higher pelvis.
That's what I've always been told.
After all, I've always skied like that, I don't feel like I've revolutionized much.
Simply, there is a new generation arriving and changing the codes a bit, but it's always like that and it will continue to be in the future with the new generations.
You recently trained with Marcel Hirscher, the boss of the profession as you wrote on Instagram.
How did that happen ?
I had never trained with him, I had run with him for two seasons before he stopped, but never in training, where you can take the time to have a good chat.
And I must say that it was very nice, it is a personality that I like, it is someone that I admired a lot when I was young, suddenly being able to train and discuss with him it allowed me to see how humble and respectful he is.
It's quite striking to see him in training today, he's very respectful, it looks like he's a young kid coming, he asks if he can do this or that, he asks if he can't don't bother.
It was really cool to see.
Sport
Alpine skiing: A crown, a reindeer, a calf... On the World Cup stages, "behind each trophy, there is a story"
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Alpine skiing: Merciless, Clément Noël crushes the slalom of Val d'Isère
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