There is finally a successor to Adrien Théaux, the last French skier to win downhill in a World Cup event. It was December 2015, so a lifetime ago. The tricolor hero of the day is Cyprien Sarrazin, who created a huge surprise by winning this Thursday in Bormio (Italy). This is the second World Cup victory of his career, following the parallel giant slalom at Alta Badia seven years ago.
The 29-year-old native of Gap had a perfect race to beat the Swiss Marco Odermatt by 0.9 seconds and the Canadian Cameron Alexander by 1.23 seconds. If we stick to Bormio, we have to go back to Luc Alphand to find traces of a French downhill success, in March 1995 then in December 1996.
Odermatt leads the World Cup after the fall of Schwarz
Fourth in the second descent of Val Gardena two weeks earlier, Cyprien Sarrazin resoundingly confirmed his great end to the year 2023. This race was marked by the injury to the right knee of the Austrian Marco Schwarz, then leader of the general classification. of the Downhill World Cup.
This one must have been airlifted from the runway, after his fall halfway through the net. A hard blow which interrupted Bormio’s descent for a few minutes, and which benefited Marco Odermatt, double title holder of the big globe and back at the top of this World Cup.