Too bad for Alexis Pinturault! He had set the third provisional time in the first round of the Sölden giant when, after 47 of the 73 competitors had passed, the Austrian race was interrupted due to gusts of wind… Then finally canceled definitively a few hours later. The day before, an incident disrupted the women’s race on the Tyrolean glacier.
The start of the race, normally given at an altitude of more than 3,000 meters, had already been lowered due to strong gusts at the top of the Rettenbach glacier. “Extreme wind” late in the morning and even worse forecasts for the rest of the afternoon prompted organizers to cancel the race. At the bottom of the glacier, the arch marking the finish was shaken by the wind and was quickly dismantled.
“Obviously, it’s a shame”
When the race was interrupted, Austrian Marco Schwarz had the best time, followed by Swiss Marco Odermatt, 29 hundredths of a second behind, and Pinturault, 46 hundredths behind. “Obviously it’s a shame,” reacted Alexis Pinturault. As athletes, we are all a little disappointed. (At the start of the race) the weather was pretty good, the conditions were good, the track was really well prepared, so it made for a great show overall…”
Among the other French people who were able to ski, Thibaut Favrot signed the 13th provisional time while Victor Muffat-Jeandet, 32nd when the race was interrupted, and Mathieu Faivre, 36th, already knew that they would not see the second round.
Last year, the women’s race was also canceled due to weather conditions. On Saturday, in the women’s giant, Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami, double world champion in 2021, won the first race of the season, signing at 32 her 38th World Cup victory and her third in Sölden. The only Frenchwoman entered, Clara Direz finished in 20th place.
