Olympic champion Clement Noel of France made it two wins from two season slalom races on Sunday in Austria as he withstood a spirited challenge from Swede Kristoffer Jakobsen.
Last week’s winner from Levi, Finland, led by almost a second after the first run in Gurgl and despite a not flawless second run he clinched a 12th career victory.
Noel won .43 of a second from Jakobsen, who rose from eighth place to record his third career runner-up finish, skiing a second faster than Noel in the run. Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath placed third, another one-hundredth back.
“I am more than happy with the win, it was a real fight,” Noel said.
“In the second run I was quite confident at the start. But I then had a bad feeling and another mistake in the steep. I wasn’t sure whether it was enough to win. The first run margin was important.”
There was no luck for the two returning greats as Lucas Pinheiro Braathen and Marcel Hirscher both straddled a gate midway through the first run. Norway Braathen and Austrian Hirscher came out of retirement competing for the countries of their mothers, Brazil and the Netherlands, respectively.
Last season’s Görgl race and slalom World Cup winner Manuel Feller also failed to finish the first run.
The men’s World Cup continues December 6-8 in Beaver Creek, Colorado, with the first speed races, a downhill and a super-g, plus a giant slalom.
Swiss
