Slalom out of Alta Badia –
Haugan in his own league – but Meillard shines despite back pain
Timon Haugan cannot be beaten. With an improvement run, Meillard secured his third podium place in the current slalom season.
Confidently on the podium despite pain: Loïc Meillard after his ride at the finish in Alta Badia.
Photo: Marco Bertorello (Keystone)
Atle Lie McGrath saw a lot of Timon Haugan's rides, there must have been a lot of them, the Norwegians are teammates after all.
But McGrath never saw his teammate better than on this Monday, that's what he said after the slalom in Alta Badia, which he finished in third place. Haugan wins, and he does it brilliantly. McGrath can keep up in the first round, but no one can keep up in the second.
Haugan wins by over a second and clearly wins the last duel of the day. Loïc Meillard has to admit defeat in this one. The Swiss comes second and prevents a Norwegian triple victory, just behind McGrath is Henrik Kristoffersen.
Meillard won't care much about that; the way he achieves it this Monday is much more important to him than his second place. With an excellent second run, before that he was in 8th place, and above all: despite persistent back pain.
Meillard is suffering these days, and it shows in his face. Immediately after crossing the finish line, he rests his elbows on his knees, his face distorted in pain.
The day before the first race of the season in Sölden, Meillard was hit while running in, he suffered a tear in the intervertebral disc between two vertebrae, and he bears the pain with him. In the morning, he said to himself after his second place, that even a top 10 ranking in the afternoon would be incredible.
The fact that it comes in second place says a lot about the athlete Meillard and his grit. And of course a lot about his abilities. After the first run, he supports himself to relieve the strain on his back. Whoever achieves the second-best running time in the second round under such circumstances has long since reached the absolute top class.
Yule finds confidence again
However, Meillard has the reputation of being the eternal second, usually, but not always, due to Marco Odermatt. Behind him, Meillard finished second in the overall World Cup last winter, second in the giant slalom classification and silver medalist in the same discipline at the 2023 World Cup.
Odermatt himself recently said that Meillard was his biggest competitor in the fight for the overall World Cup. Meillard thinks he has what it takes, that's his claim, despite the friendship that binds the two.
After his outstanding weekend in South Tyrol, Odermatt is over 200 points ahead of Meillard, fourth in the rankings. With his second place from Alta Badia, he accomplished what he was currently capable of. He is still one of the best slalom skiers, only Kristoffersen is still 25 points ahead of him.
The slalom as such is almost in danger of becoming a problem child for the Swiss. Nobody comes after Meillard in the rankings for a long time. Daniel Yule and Tanguy Nef followed in 12th and 13th place, in Alta Badia they finished 9th and 22nd, Luca Aerni came 17th. Ramon Zenhäuser missed the second round, as did Marc Rochat and Noel von Grünigen because they were eliminated.
For Yule, ninth place is a step forward. He hasn't finished in the top 10 since his victory in Chamonix at the beginning of February, and in the first run he was even faster than Meillard. He has found his trust again, says Yule.
It's probably just in time, as Yule is one for the January classics. A little relief should be good for Meillard, in every respect.
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And that's where this slalom ends. What a performance by Timon Haugan, everyone else can only take their hats off. The Norwegian wins here in Alta Badia with a lead of over a second.
But the performance of a Swiss cannot be valued highly enough either. Loïc Meillard threw everything into this second run and fought his way to second place despite persistent back pain. Fourth slalom of the winter, third podium place for Meillard.
Third place goes to Atle Lie McGrath, the only one who was able to tickle Haugan a bit in the first run.
And with that we say goodbye for the moment. You will find a summary of this race here shortly. Until then: Thank you very much for joining in and being there!
And it's time for the Grand Finale! Meillard versus Haugan. He even took 1.44 seconds into the second run; his performance in the first was fantastic. And here too he presents it straight away, it looks so good!
Yes, Haugan's own league, no one has a chance, including Meillard. 1.13 seconds! Craziness!
Meillard has already come third twice this slalom season. Will there now be an even better classification? Two Norwegians can still stop the Swiss.
First McGrath, 1.13 seconds ahead, takes him onto the track. That's already huge.
McGrath loses some time at the top, but then he stays fairly consistent. But it's not enough! Meillard is still leading! 13 hundredths behind!
So, Christmas first.
Almost the entire lead is gone after the first section. But then the two have a close duel. And that goes to Meillard! So the Swiss is firmly on the podium. Noël is only in 4th place.
He has arrived at the top of the world, the Frenchman, started today with number 11 and was then just as fast as Kristoffersen.
And then he screams his frustration into the snow! That was a great start, but then it slips away, like last time in Val-d'Isère. But the first podium finish is only a matter of time.
And Meillard? He's still leading. Noël, McGrath and Haugan are still coming.
So, three Norwegians, two Frenchmen, Meillard still has to survive at the finish. First up is Kristoffersen, the winner of Val-d'Isère.
Kristoffersen is faster than Meillard in the second sector, but down below the Swiss simply accelerated. Kristoffersen is second! One hundredth ahead of Kolega.
Switzerland against Switzerland, that will be something. Daniel Yule sets off.
This looks good for Yule, energetic start with strong winds at the moment. It's an exciting duel with Meillard, Yule keeps the gap within limits, but then he suddenly loses half a second and falls behind. 5th place for Yule, five more to come, so at least he's back in the top 10.
The best Croatian of the first run. That's saying something, after all there were three of them there. Kolega is only three hundredths ahead of Meillard at the top.
This difference is quickly erased by Meillard, but there is still a lot of space between him and Feller. And that's exactly where Kolega comes in, 19 hundredths behind Meillard he ends up in second place, strong performance.
Now the Swiss are attacking! Loïc Meillard is on the slopes.
Mega start from Meillard, he takes three tenths off Feller. But the Austrian was fantastic down below. But Meillard even increases it, almost eight tenths ahead at the finish, that's a wonderful performance from the Swiss!
Started with number 10 and finished ninth, that's Dave Ryding's record in the first run. He's even a little faster at the top than Feller and is even improving. But Feller was very fast in the last section, Ryding couldn't keep up, and in the end he lost 13 hundredths to the Austrian.
So it's not exactly the Austrians' race. But we don't want to shout about it. It's Manuel Feller's turn, tenth in the first run.
By the way, the drivers who are now in the race have a second or more lead over Popov at the start. And Feller can preserve that until the finish. He takes the lead, by almost half a second at the end.
11th place after the first run, we are getting closer to the top 10. With the Austrian Michael Matt.
That's not bad, but he also loses a lot to Popov in the second period. It is currently ranked 7th. Popov has already climbed eight places, Pinheiro Braathen eleven, Salarich twelve. And Aerni? Already seven!
There are three Croatians in the second run, one of them is Istok Rodes. In the first section he is already a second slower than Popov, then a goalpost is lost, but the man still somehow fights his way to the finish. Rank 16, only Radamus has been slower so far.
After River Radamus, the second American: Jett Seymour, who was 36 hundredths faster than Popov in the first run.
He also loses time on the Bulgarians, but not as much as the athletes before him. In the end that means: intermediate place 4. At the front there are still Popov, Ax Swartz and Pinheiro Braathen. The trio stands out a bit here.
At the front, there are neither the Swiss nor the Austrians. So now it's about catching up a little bit. After Nef it's Strolz's turn, but things aren't going particularly well for him either. He is faster than Nef, but even that is only enough for 8th place in the intermediate rankings. By the way, Aerni has already gained six places.
So, the second of four Swiss is on the track: Tanguy Nef.
He made a mistake in the first run that sacrificed a better classification. Does that mean he drives more cautiously? You don't know. In any case, Nef can't improve, he even falls back and is currently tenth.
Head-to-head race with Popov, but then the young Frenchman makes a mistake that he can no longer make up for. After all, it is intermediate rank 4 for Rassat. And Popov has already moved up three places.
Big name, unknown athlete, what does Ax Swartz show?
This is the second time the 20-year-old has ever scored World Cup points. At the bottom he even becomes a threat to Popov and only loses four hundredths. 2nd place for Ax Swartz, Pinheiro Braathen third, Aerni fifth now.
He should be found further up the field, but he hasn't really gotten up to speed yet this winter. 18th place after the first run is not enough for him. And this time too it won't work, threader in the lower section of the route, for the third time without points this season – in the fourth slalom.
He is three tenths ahead of Pinheiro Braathen. Can he pose a threat to the Brazilian?
Yes, that's really, really good, at the last split he's still half a second ahead, then he saves two tenths to the finish and is the new leader in this race.
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