What an end to the season for Alexis Pinturault! Double medalist, in gold on the combined and in bronze on the super-G, during the world championships last month in his resort of Courchevel, the French skier ends the winter in a cannonball.
Saturday, he had signed a good second place on the first giant of Kranjska Gora, behind the Swiss Marco Odermatt, his first podium in the discipline since January 2022. Sunday, he repeated this time by climbing on the third step behind the untouchable Swiss Marco Odermatt (70 hundredths faster) and the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen (38 hundredths).
At the end of the first race, “Pintu” was perfectly placed in ambush, second at 28 hundredths from Odermatt. Like the day before, he again had a solid second run, except that Kristoffersen was even better to come between him and the Swiss.
Odermatt assured of the big globe even before the finals
Pinturault has therefore not signed a 35th victory in the World Cup but he can leave Slovenia reinvigorated before the finals in Soldeu (Andorra) next week. He who has already announced his desire to focus more on speed events next season (downhill and super-G) proves that at almost 32 years old, he still has some great remains as a giant.
With this second victory in two days in Kranjska Gora, Odermatt officially won the general classification of the World Cup – the big crystal globe – for the second consecutive year on Sunday. Giant Olympic champion in 2022, giant and downhill world champion last month, Odermatt confirms at 25 his hold on international skiing.