Tessa Worley doesn’t stop anymore! Victorious in the giant slalom in Lienz (Austria) on December 28, the French won a new podium on Saturday January 8 in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia). She took second place in the giant slalom behind Sara Hector, untouchable. Winner of both heats, the Swede won with a large margin ahead of Worley (+ 0 s 96) and the Italian Marta Bassino (+ 1 s 32).
Already very fair in her skiing to follow Sara Hector in the first heat (+ 0s 08), the Frenchwoman did not make the slightest mistake in the second heat. A performance all the more impressive as many big names have passed by in Slovenia, like the American Mikaela Shiffrin (7e, + 2 s 05) and Slovak Petra Vlhova (15e, + 2 s 55).
Tessa Worley decided to start carefully for the first few meters of the track, giving up time to Marta Bassino, who started just before her. But once on the slope, she did not stop taking it up to finish with a comfortable lead of 36 hundredths over the Italian.
In Olympic form
In the lead provisionally, at the end of her stint, the Frenchwoman did not have time to really believe in victory, the fault of an imperial Sara Hector and in great shape after her success over one of the two giants of Courchevel , December 22. Thanks to this success, the Swede takes the top spot in the specialty.
But, with this podium, Tessa Worley proved that her Lienz victory was not just a one-day performance, and that it will be necessary to count on it in the coming weeks, and in particular at the Beijing Olympics in less of a month (from February 4 to 20).
Double world champion of the giant, the French, 32, has never been on an Olympic podium. She will arrive in China with full confidence. “I continue to be confident, I repeat the heats at a high level. Before the Olympics I prefer to be in this position than the other way around. I think I can still ramp up. I manage to find this Olympic state of mind in these World Cup races, to test it before the Games is very good ”, explained the double world champion.
The second round, on the other hand, was a source of frustration for the two other French chances, Coralie Frasse Sombet and Clara Direz, both ambushed in the top 15 after the morning round. The first made too many mistakes at the top of the track, while the second failed to reproduce the same ski. Coralie Frasse Sombet finishes 18e (+ 2 s 92), Clara Direz 21e (+ 3 s 60).
Podium also for Alexis Pinturault
In difficulty since the start of this season (no success, a podium in slalom and one in giant), Alexis Pinturault took third place, Saturday, January 8, in the giant slalom in Adelboden, Switzerland. The race was won in front of his home crowd by Marco Odermatt, the Austrian Manuel Feller (+ 0 s 48), stratospheric in the second round, taking second place, and ahead of Pinturault by a hair (+ 0 s 54).
Winner in 2021 in Switzerland, the French lost his crown in Adelboden, but remained placed for this last giant before the Olympics, signing his 74e World Cup podium. Behind the Savoyard, the other French have also distinguished themselves. Mathieu Faivre finished 5e, Cyprien Sarrazin 10e and Thibaut Favrot 13e.