Three days after his exit from the track at Madonna di Campiglio, Clément Noel reacted perfectly to Adelboden. Still hampered by his ankle injury which makes each support of his right foot complicated and less stable, the Vosges native nevertheless managed to free himself much better on the Chuenisbargli. Cutting through the wall in particular, the Frenchman placed himself in the race for victory with 3rd place (+0”38) in a first round dominated by Manuel Feller.
On a track which clearly favored the small bibs (first 3 bibs in the first three) and in an increasingly thick fog, under the snow, Feller found the level which was his last year and which had him allowed me to take down the little globe. Very fine, light on the support, the Austrian showed his regularity and his technique, making no mistakes, releasing quickly, pushing between the gates. A very solid round which will allow him to close the starting gate at 1:30 p.m. Linus Strasser completes the podium (2nd, +0”25) in this first round.
On the French side, in addition to the great performance of Clément Noel, Steven Amiez confirmed his 4th place from Madonna di Campiglio with a quality first round. Despite some scares, notably in the wall where he was on the verge of going off the track, the Habs placed themselves in the race for the podium with an 8th place (+ 1”02), seven tenths from 3rd place of Christmas, enough to approach the second round with maximum ambition. As at Madonna di Campiglio, Victor Muffat-Jeandet also qualified, taking 28th place in the first round, 2”95 behind Feller.
