Daily Times

Henrik Kristoffersen extended his lead at the top of the overall World Cup standings with his first win of the season in the slalom at Val d’Isere on Sunday.

The Norwegian, who tops the discipline standings as well, was second after the first run, 0.32 seconds behind Steven Amiez.

However, the 26-year-old Frenchman, son of 2002 Olympic slalom silver medallist Sebastien Amiez, straddled a gate at the top of his second run and crashed out.

“That’s part of the learning process, I wanted to play and I lost,” said a phlegmatic Amiez. “I arrived with quite a bit of speed and then I don’t really understand what happened. That’s part of the game, that’s skiing.”

Kristoffersen clocked a combined time of 1 minute 36.40 seconds on the Face de Bellevarde to snatch his first World Cup win in almost two years.

The 2023 world champion last topped the podium in a World Cup event after winning the slalom in Wengen in January 2023.

“It’s a nice experience,” said Kristoffersen. “Eight years since I won here the first time, that’s a long time. So I am super happy.”

On Sunday, he finished 0.52sec ahead of his Norwegian teammate Atle Lie McGrath who claimed his third podium of the winter after finishing third in both the Soelden giant slalom and Gurgl slalom.

Swiss skier Loic Meillard picked up third, coming home 0.89sec behind Kristoffersen while Brazilian Lucas Pinheiro Braathen climbed 22 places in the second run to finish just off the podium.

Olympic slalom champion Clement Noel, who won the first two slalom events of the year, decided not to race after suffering broken teeth and a sprained ankle in a heavy fall during Saturday’s giant slalom.

He is targeting a return to the piste in Alta Badia, where the next World Cup slalom takes place on December 23.