World Cup in Finland: Clement Noel wins first slalom of the season in Levi

Frenchman Clement Noel won the first slalom of the season in Levi, Finland. The Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen moved into second place with a brilliant second run. The Swiss Loic Meillard secured third place.

Linus Straßer, who won the prestigious slalom races in Kitzbühel and Schladming last winter, got off to a good start on the icy slopes in northern Finland. The 32-year-old, who was in fourth place after the first run and was then considered “not a specialist in flat terrain“, but then it did. In seventh place, the Munich man was 1.56 seconds short of winner Noel’s best time.

Hirscher with big problems

Comebacker Marcel Hirscher (NED), after a five-year break, couldn’t get into the rhythm at all and couldn’t get any traction on the outside skis. “To be honest, I thought the first goals would be nice anyway. But then it quickly turned into one of the worst slalom rides of my life.“The 35-year-old, who now competes for the Netherlands, clearly missed out on making it to the final in 46th place.”No grip, it was a grind, it wasn’t what I was hoping for“, said the disappointed Hirscher on ORF. The wrong selection of material was also to blame.”It was clear when you came back after such a long time that there would be days where you just weren’t rightt.”

Comeback Braathen fourth again

Things went better for Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who stormed into the top ten in the first run. The Norwegian, who is now competing for Brazil, not only left the 2023/24 Slalom World Cup winner Manuel Feller behind. In the final, the new Brazilian had his sights set on the podium, but, as in the giant slalom in Sölden, narrowly missed it in fourth place.

Meisen gives away the first World Cup points of his career

DSV starter Adrian Meisen also made a surprising appearance, as he was able to qualify for the final run in 30th place. But instead of safety, the 27-year-old went on the attack, but never really got into the rhythm and missed out on picking up the first World Cup points of his career shortly before the finish. “I tried to accelerate, I wanted to give it my all” said Meisen on the BR microphone. Then it was “but went from error to error. Should be proud of myself, but it’s still difficult right now.“

However, his teammates didn’t make it into the second round. Sebastian Holzmann missed the final in 34th place. Anton Tremmel was already eliminated early.