The French slalom rider had a magnificent first run to finish in the lead at the end. Another Frenchman, Steven Amiez is currently third.
Frenchman Clément Noël, already winner of the first slalom of the winter in mid-November, flew over the first round of the Gurgl slalom in Austria on Sunday, relegating his competitors to almost a second.
Starting in 2nd position, Clément Noël had an almost perfect round, finishing in 52 sec 76 despite poor visibility. He took almost a second from all the other slalomers, who nevertheless benefited from a clearing: the Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath finished 2nd at 88 hundredths ahead of another Frenchman, Steven Amiez (3rd at 94 hundredths). Noël, Olympic slalom champion in 2022, returned to victory last week by completing the first slalom of the winter in Levi in Finland, his first World Cup success since January 2023.
For the third time in three races this winter, the Austrian Manuel Feller, winner of the slalom globe in March, went off the track and will not score points. No second round either for Marcel Hirscher, who went off the track. Hirscher had already finished very far from the best for his return between the stakes in Levi after five years of retirement.
The second round begins at 1:00 p.m.
