The Austrian Marco Schwarz won the night slalom in Madonna di Campiglio (Italy) on Friday and took the lead in the general classification of the Alpine Ski World Cup. The French Olympic champion Clément Noël, in the lead at the end of the first round, finished second, 25 hundredths behind the Austrian and gave the French team its first podium of the winter. The British Dave Ryding (+ 39/100th) completes the podium.
12th in Gurgl, on November 18, during the first slalom of the season, Clément Noël achieved a much better performance this Friday. Winner of the first round, despite starting among the first, the Frenchman also held up well in the second round to secure this second place. Second in the general classification of the World Cup in 2019, 2020 and 2021, the Vosges hopes to win a first season title.
“I am satisfied with the podium,” he declared at the finish. I think I could have done a bit better but it’s pretty good to have had two good runs and to come second. He was a little better than me so there’s no problem, we’ll try to do even better next time. For confidence, this is important. I knew I was skiing well in training but I was still missing a little something extra in the second runs and there it went in the right direction. I’m finishing the year in style. »
At 28 years old, Marco Schwarz signs his first victory of the winter after three second places. Above all, the one who had announced at the start of the season that he wanted to compete with the Swiss genius Marco Odermatt in the race for the big globe has for the moment succeeded in his bet by taking the lead in the general classification.
With his victory Friday evening, the ultra-versatile skier now has 464 points, eight more than his great Swiss rival who does not compete in slalom. The men’s Alpine Skiing World Cup continues next week with a downhill on Thursday and a super-G on Friday on the program to end 2023.
