This is enough to bring back a smile to the French camp after the terrible and very avoidable injury of Victor Muffat-Jeandet Thursday in Zagreb, which deprives him of the Beijing Games. This Saturday, there were no victories but all the same two podiums for the French alpine ski team.
Tessa Worley got the second place from the giant of Kranjska Gora in Slovenia. After winning the Lienz giant on December 28 in Austria, the “Grand-Bornand chip” won her second podium of the season. On the other hand, she could not do anything against the talent of the Swedish Sara Hector (96 hundredths ahead). This is the second giant victory for the 29-year-old skier, who already won in Courchevel three weeks ago.
Double world champion in the discipline, Worley has never shone at the Olympic Games (16th in 2010, injured in 2014, 7th in 2018). She will present herself as a serious candidate for the podium on February 7 on the giant in Yanqing.
Pinturault is reassured
Alexis Pinturault placed third in Adelboden (Switzerland). A disappointment if we think of the fact that he has won this legendary stage over the past two years, a satisfaction given the Frenchman’s mixed start to the season. The Crystal Globe holder finished 54 hundredths behind prodigy Marco Odermatt. Once again imperial, Odermatt offers the Helvetians the first victory of a Swiss in this race since 2008. At 24 years old, the latter seems untouchable one month before the Beijing Games (February 4-February 20).
Giant slalom world champion Mathieu Faivre, 4th halfway through the race, missed his second run and lost any chance of the podium. A bad habit at the start of the season even if he achieved his best ranking this Saturday.