FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2024/25: Clement Noel powers to Levi slalom victory
France's Olympic champion converted a narrow first-run advantage into his 11th World Cup win ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen and Loic Meillard with Lucas Pinheiro Braathen fourth.
Alpine Skiing
Reigning Olympic champion Clement Noel skied superbly to take the first men's slalom of the 2024/25 FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup season at Levi on Sunday (17 November).
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen moved up from 10th to second thanks to an inspired second run with Loic Meillard in third. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was fourth to match the result of his World Cup return at Sölden last month.
Noel told FIS afterwards: “That was a tough fight. I'm really happy with my second run. I knew that Henrik had set the bar high. In the pitch, he skied really well so I just tried to push really hard because I knew it was tight.”
The Frenchman failed to register a win last season, with his last success coming at Schladming in January 2023. “Last season was not that bad,” he reflected. “I was just missing the victory by not much. This preparation… I was really confident in my skiing. I skied really well the last few weeks so I knew I could be fast, but racing is a different world and I’m really happy to show it today.”
Having finished 23rd on his comeback in Sölden, Marcel Hirscher failed to make the second run in Finland. Now skiing for the Netherlands, the Austrian-born double Olympic champion and eight-time overall World Cup winner was over two and a half seconds off the pace in 46th place.
Noel holds off Kristoffersen charge as Feller fades
Despite getting twisted up on a couple of turns near the bottom of the course, Noel was quickest on the first run by just two-hundredths of a second from Meillard.
On the second run, Kristoffer Jakobsen was one of the few men to master the steep section on the bottom half. The Swede was only 26th on the first run, but held the lead until he was finally overtaken by Croatia's Filip Zubcic 12 skiers later. Jakobsen eventually finished 11th.
Reigning slalom World Cup champion Manuel Feller was 15th at midway and looked on course to improve marginally on that before straddling a gate for a DNF at the start of his title defence.
Like Jakobsen, Kristoffersen attacked the course with gusto, making some fine turns early on and avoiding mishaps on the steep section to go quickest on the second run and take a lead which would eventually guarantee him another podium finish.
Braathen was a quarter of a second outside his former team-mate, skiing the top half well but then perhaps failing to attack the bottom half as much as was required. The 2022/23 slalom crystal globe winner, now representing Brazil, impressed again to produce another solid result on his comeback from retirement.
With several skiers losing time on the steep, including Meillard who moved above Braathen with just Noel to go, the pressure was on the Frenchman whose lead over Kristoffersen from the first run was just over a second.
The 27-year-old refused to ski conservatively and extended his lead on the top section. He was smooth on the steep and lost minimal time as he opened his World Cup campaign in the best way possible with Kristoffersen going top of the early overall World Cup standings.
Next up for Noel and co is the Gurgl slalom in Austria next Sunday.
Levi, 2024/25 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup: Results from men's slalom, 17 November 2024 (top 10):
- Clement Noel (FRA) 1:53.98
- Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) +0.80
- Loic Meillard (SUI) +0.95
- Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (BRA) +1.05
- Tanguy Nef (SUI) +1.36
- Steven Amiez (FRA) +1.46
- Linus Strasser (GER) +1.56
- Alexander Steen Olsen (NOR) +1.65
- Samuel Kolega (CRO) +1.77
- Filip Zubcic (CRO) +1.78