Alpine Skiing
Henrik Kristoffersen beats Clément Nöel to slalom victory in Finland
Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen starts his FIS World Cup campaign in style with a narrow victory over France's Clément Noël and Swiss Daniel Yule in the first slalom race of the year in Levi.
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Henrik Kristoffersen got his FIS World Cup season off to the best start possible with a dramatic victory in Levi, Finland in a new era for slalom skiing after Marcel Hirscher retired at the end of the last season. The Austrian had won six out of the last seven FIS World Cup slalom titles, with Kristoffersen the only skier to get the better of him thanks to his 2015–16 title win.
New French star Clément Noël came out strong during the first run in Finland to lead from British slalom expert Dave Ryding, with Kristoffersen in fourth. The second run however was a different matter, as skiers further down the field, like Kristoffer Jakobsen, took advantage of good conditions to post top times.
Clement Noel going full throttle down a slalom
© Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool
Swiss Daniel Yule charged down to set the time to beat, only for Kristoffersen to better it, with another Swiss, Ramon Zenhaeusern, settling in behind Yule.
Ryding was on track to score the best time as second to last man down the hill, but crashed out. Noël also made a mistake in the steepest part of the course to leave him 0.09s behind Kristoffersen.
My skiing in slalom is much better than last year, we've worked a lot
This was Kristoffersen's 19th FIS World Cup win, 16 coming in slalom, as this season's first giant slalom race winner Alexis Pinturault failed to qualify for the second run.
Kristoffersen now leads the overall FIS World Cup standings by 13 points from Pinturault, with compatriots Noël and Mathieu Faivre locked in third.
"After the first run, I thought, 'Seven-tenths on Noël, that's a bit too much'," said Kristoffersen. "My skiing in slalom is much better than last year, we've worked a lot. It wasn't a perfect run, but it's going in the right direction."
The next men's FIS World Cup event is the first downhill race of the 2019–20 season and will take place at Lake Louise, Canada on November 30.
FIS Ski World Cup Men's Slalom Finland results
- Henrik Kristoffersen (NOR) 1m 48.55s
- Clément Noël (FRA) +0.09s
- Daniel Yule (CHE) +0.18s
- Ramon Zenhaeusern (CHE) +0.27s
- Andre Myhrer (SWE) +0.34s
- Kristoffer Jakobsen (SWE) +0.53s
- Christian Hirschbuehl (AUT) +0.74s
- Linus Strasser (GER) +0.89s
- Sebastian Foss-Solevaag (NOR) +0.92s
- Manfred Moelgg (ITA) +0.98s
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