“It’s up to me to build on that”, Pinturault fails at a place of happiness on the Giant of Val d’Isère

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Alexis Pinturault, title holder of the general classification, was dominated by the Swiss Marco Odermatt after a magnificent duel on the Alpine Skiing World Cup giant in Val d’Isère on Saturday. For his first podium of the winter, Pinturault finished 59/100 behind the Swiss, who already signs a third victory this season. The Austrian Manuel Feller finished 3rd at 1 sec 24.

Blue smoke, explosion of the public, the right fist raised with happiness, the triumphant arrival of Alexis Pinturault at the end of a beautiful second round looked like a success. Best time of the first heat ahead of “Pintu”, Marco Odermatt would have to surpass himself to get ahead of the Frenchman. One minute, 5 seconds and 17 hundredths later, the Swiss crushed the race and conditioned the crowd.

Pinturault enters a period “important for him”

It is Odermatt, the master of the snow at the start of the season, when the snowflakes have started falling again on the Savoy resort just as the current best skier has crossed the line. On a vertiginous slope and on a track made very demanding by the heavy snowfall the day before, Odermatt carried out a new demonstration by force and signed a third victory after the opening giant of Sölden (Austria) at the end of October and the super-G of Beaver Creek (United States) last week.

“It’s my first podium of the season. It gives a form of confidence, it gives me answers, my skiing is present, I am fighting for the podium and the victories, it’s up to me to build on that, reacted the Frenchman, no more disappointed than that. I’m entering a period with more technical races (giant and slalom), you have to have a sharper ski, that’s where things become important for me. Marco (Odermatt) is very, very strong, he wins a lot, I will try to raise my level, to improve myself further. He is an athlete that I like. We get along like friends, I wouldn’t say friends, but we like to play around. “


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