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Daniel Yule: On the way to the finish and victory
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Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom/Getty Images
Swiss slalom specialist Daniel Yule celebrated a historic victory at the slalom in Chamonix, France. On an increasingly deteriorating slope and in spring-like conditions, the Swiss took first place after finishing the first round in 30th place.
»This is absolutely unbelievable. I was really lucky with the slope, but also a wonderful second run," said the 2018 Olympic team champion. Because Yule was sure he would miss the final, he had "already packed my things and wanted to go back to the hotel." But then he hit it perfectly.
The 30-year-old barely qualified by five hundredths of a second and came last for the second run, which he started 1.93 seconds behind Olympic champion Clément Noel.
Yule was therefore allowed to start the second round first and still found optimal conditions. After that it got warmer and warmer, the slopes got worse and worse, nobody could get past Yule anymore. For him it was the seventh World Cup victory of his career - and the most unlikely. “I never believed it,” Yule said afterwards.
A historic comeback
No ski racer has ever won a World Cup after finishing the first run in 30th place, the last starting position for the second run. Yule thus broke the previous record set by Lucas Braathen, who drove from 29th place to victory in Wengen two years ago.
Ski racer Linus Straßer suffered a setback a week and a half after his furious double victory in the classics in Kitzbühel and Schladming. The 31-year-old only finished 14th in the slalom. After a mistake in the first round, the Munich native improved by three places in the final, but he was no longer able to catch up as he had hoped. In the Slalom World Cup, Straßer lost ground to the leading Austrian Manuel Feller.
jan/AP