Three weeks after his last giant, Alexis Pinturault returns to competition this Sunday in Adelboden (10:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m.). The Courchevel skier, who continues to regain his form after his serious knee injury almost a year ago, is counting on this month of January to gain confidence on the slope.
It’s the recovery for you this Sunday. You have not raced since the giant of Alta Badia (December 22), after withdrawing from Bormio because you were ill. How do you feel?
“The break went pretty well. In the sense that it gave me time to rest. Especially for my knee in a way, because the sequence, between Beaver Creek, Val d’Isère, Alta Badia, and Bormio, even if I didn’t run since I wasn’t in great shape . It’s certain that it’s sequences which, for my knee, were still relatively heavy, and it needed to rest. So these days off were good, and at the same time, it also gave me time to retrain. Because I need miles, especially in the iciest conditions. I mainly trained in Reiterhalm in Austria. »
Are you where you hoped your knee would be?
“It’s always hard to say, because we don’t hope for much. That is to say, we take things as they come, and we adapt depending on how the situation is, how the knee is. For my part, in any case, where I am today, I find that things continue to go in the right direction, I clearly see that there has been a huge improvement between Val d’Isère or even Beaver Creek, and where I am today. It’s now been another month, I’m almost a year away, not quite yet, eleven and a half months after my operation. It’s on time as the doctors always said. That is to say that after a year to a year and a half, the knee becomes normal again, it no longer has fluid, it is more and more dry, there is less and less less pain and discomfort. »
They say that this month of January is going to be busy and it starts strong with a giant in Adelboden, how do you plan?
“We are entering the second third, the month of January will be a little less busy for me than it usually was. Because it’s a big month for slalom riders. For me, the objective will be to continue to regain confidence, to be able to continue my reconstruction in competitions and with the prospect of gradually gaining strength throughout the month of January. »
Related News :