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Loïc Meillard does not make it onto the podium in the slalom in Adelboden because of a hundredth of a second. Braathen and McGrath celebrate a double victory.
The Ungrateful Fourth
- 4. Loïc Meillard +0.93 seconds
It doesn’t get any tighter in skiing: Loïc Meillard was only a hundredth of a second off third place. He was therefore unable to fully utilize his good starting position as second in the first run in Adelboden. In the 2nd heat he drove fast at first, but lost time in the lower part of the track and ended up missing the podium. He shared fourth place at the same time as Alex Vinatzer, who had shown a strong race to catch up.
The pedestal
- 1. Lucas Braathen (NOR) 1:49.31 minutes
- 2nd Atle Lie McGrath (NOR) +0.71s
- 3. Linus Strasser (GER) +0.92
A familiar picture at the top: Norway wins the slalom. The Scandinavians even celebrated a double victory in Adelboden – even though Henrik Kristoffersen wasn’t there in the second run. 22-year-old Lucas Braathen celebrated his second win of the season in front of his compatriot Atle Lie McGrath, who was two days younger. The former also takes over the lead in the slalom classification from Kristoffersen.
Braathen said after the race: “This is the biggest day of my career.” McGrath added: “When Lucas and I were 12 years old, we had a dream. We wanted to take 1st and 2nd place in the same World Cup race.” This dream has now come true.
The wild beginning
With Kristoffersen and Clément Noël, the starting numbers 1 and 2 had a really hard time with the apparently easy course in the first run. The former had to run up the slope after a serious mistake and lost too much time to participate in the second round. Noël was eliminated altogether. Two favorites for victory were therefore already out of the decision only a few minutes after the start of the race.
The other Swiss
- 8. Ramon Zenhauser + 1.20 seconds
- 9.Marc Rochat +1.57
- 11. Daniel Yule + 1.74
- 22. Luca Aerni +2.68
- Out in the 2nd heat: Tanguy Nef
- Not in the 2nd run: 34th Sandro Simonet, 52nd Noel von Grünigen
- Out in the first run: Joel Lütolf
With 8th place, Ramon Zenhauser achieved his best result of the season and confirmed his upward trend. Marc Rochat was also able to convince again after his strong second run in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. From 14th place he finished 9th.
A slight disappointment set it off for Daniel Yule. The Swiss hopeful chose the wrong ski in the first round and lost time. In the 2nd round he even fell back 2 places.
This is how it goes
The next men’s races will take place in Wengen. There the athletes will compete in a super-G (Friday), a downhill (Saturday) and a slalom (Sunday) next week.