At 164 centimeters tall, Albert Popov emerged from the fog to make Bulgarian ski history by winning the Madonna di Campiglio (Italy) slalom, his country’s second success in the Alpine Ski World Cup.
Popov, seventh after the first round, flew over the second course to beat the Swiss Loïc Meillard, second at 44/100th, and the Croatian Samuel Kolega, third at 46/100th.
He is the second Bulgarian to win on the world circuit, forty-five years after his compatriot Petar Popangelov, winner of the slalom in Lenggries (Germany) in January 1980.
“It’s a dream come true, I’ve been waiting for this victory for so long, it’s just incredible,” said Popov after his second World Cup podium, less than two years after his third place. in Palisades Tahoe (United States).
If Popov is not unknown and regularly ranks in the top 15, he also owes his resounding victory to a track which takes great pleasure in making the favorites suffer.
While he was a few doors from the finish and well in the lead, the Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath, best time in the first round, made a mistake and was forced to retire.
His compatriot Henrik Kristoffersen finished in 5th place, thereby giving up the red bib as leader of the Slalom World Cup to Meillard.
– Amiez at the foot of the podium –
In the first round, the Frenchman Clément Noël, Olympic champion in the specialty and winner of the first two slaloms of the winter, was quickly eliminated, as was the Norwegian Timon Haugan, winner at the end of December in Alta Badia (Austria) or the Austrian Marco Schwarz.
-Noël, who is still suffering from an injury to his right ankle suffered in mid-December when he fell during the giant of Val d’Isère, was surprised by the first movement of the ground and was forced to retire after only ten seconds racing.
If its leader gave up, the French team was not unworthy; Steven Amiez finished, as in Levi (Finland), in fourth place, equaling his best result in the World Cup, just 18/100th off the podium.
Paco Rassat, 25th after the first round, jumped thirteen places thanks to the second route to finish in 12th place.
Swiss Marco Odermatt, who does not participate in the slaloms, remains at the top of the general World Cup rankings with 630 points and is ahead of Kristoffersen by 116 points.
But the tight picket specialists are back on the track on Saturday, in Adelboden, Switzerland.
Their month of January is busy with three other slaloms then, in Wengen, still in Switzerland, then the Austrian diptych Kitzbühel/Schladming.
jr/chc
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