Noel holds off Kristoffersen charge as Feller fades
Despite getting twisted up on a couple of turns near the bottom of the course, Noel was quickest on the first run by just two-hundredths of a second from Meillard.
On the second run, Kristoffer Jakobsen was one of the few men to master the steep section on the bottom half. The Swede was only 26th on the first run, but held the lead until he was finally overtaken by Croatia’s Filip Zubcic 12 skiers later. Jakobsen eventually finished 11th.
Reigning slalom World Cup champion Manuel Feller was 15th at midway and looked on course to improve marginally on that before straddling a gate for a DNF at the start of his title defence.
Like Jakobsen, Kristoffersen attacked the course with gustomaking some fine turns early on and avoiding mishaps on the steep section to go quickest on the second run and take a lead which would eventually guarantee him another podium finish.
Braathen was a quarter of a second outside his former team-mate, skiing the top half well but then perhaps failing to attack the bottom half as much as was required. The 2022/23 slalom crystal globe winner, now representing Brazil, impressed again to produce another solid result on his comeback from retirement.
With several skiers losing time on the steep, including Meillard who moved above Braathen with just Noel to go, the pressure was on the Frenchman whose lead over Kristoffersen from the first run was just over a second.
The 27-year-old refused to ski conservatively and extended his lead on the top section. He was smooth on the steep and lost minimal time as he opened his World Cup campaign in the best way possible with Kristoffersen going top of the early overall World Cup standings.
Next up for Noel and co is the Gurgl slalom in Austria next Sunday.
Swiss
