He will have all the spotlights on him! The Dvoluard Cyprien Sarrazin attacks this new season as No. 1 of the French delegation after his international explosion last winter. The Haut-Alpine will have to deal with a lot of pressure on his shoulders and enormous hopes placed on him after having contested the small globe of speed from Marco Odermatt at the end of last season.
Ranked 28e of the first giant of the season in Sölden (Austria) on Sunday October 27, Cyprien Sarrazin will obviously try to collect bonus points in technique, his original specialty. “Cyp is a powerful giant, capable of generating speed on easy or flat games, where he can create huge gaps,” Romain Velez, one of the French coaches, recently confided about him. But it is above all on speed that the Superdevoluy nugget is expected after his four World Cup victories last winter in this specialty.
The first meeting is set for December 6 in Beaver Creek (United States) with the first downhill of the season, followed by the first super-G the next day. A super-G where another high-alpine skier will attract attention, the representative of Serre Chevalier Nils Allègre, winner last winter in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in this discipline halfway between downhill and giant.
Alphand and Pogneaux in search of podium
In the shadow of Cyprien Sarrazin and Nils Allègre, three other representatives of the Alpes-Provence Committee will have a card to play in the elite, starting with the third man of high-alpine speed, Nils Alphand. With a 9e place in Bormio (Italy) last winter, then a 13e place in Kvitjfell (Norway) shortly after, the youngest of the Alphand family took a very big step downhill and could take advantage of the spotlight being monopolized by his two neighbors to create a surprise and get a little closer to a first World Cup podium.
A goal also within reach of her club teammate at Serre Chevalier and youngest member of the Haut-Alpine quintet, Chiara Pogneaux. The only pure technician in the group scored her first top 10 in slalom last year in Slovenia (8e ) and Andorra (10e ) before a summer complicated by back pain and re-athletics. She has often set the tone for her season from the first fall meeting in Levi (Finland) and it is fast approaching, on November 16 and 17.
Cerutti can force the top 20
Finally, at the gates of the top 20 last January on the super-Gs of Altenmarkt (22e ) and Cortina (21e ) in Austria and Italy, Risouline Camille Cerutti will try to perpetuate her place in the points in the World Cup and integrate this famous top 20 which has eluded her since the super-G of Val d’Isère in 2021.
If he is not officially a member of the men’s group A, Sam Alphand should also have his chances in the World Cup later this season. Nils’ little brother took part in two rounds last season and notably scored points in the Kvitfell super-G with a 28e place.
Senegal
