Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath ruined a Christmas fairytale by beating French skier Clement Noel to victory in the Alta Badia World Cup slalom on Monday. Noel was born to win a Christmas ski race and had a tight lead after the first run.
Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath ruined a Christmas fairytale by beating French skier Clement Noel to victory in the Alta Badia World Cup slalom on Monday.
Noel was born to win a Christmas ski race and had a tight lead after the first run. But he could not quite live up to his festive name and finished second after the final leg, 0.30 seconds behind his rival. His 14 wins have never come during Christmas time.
"The track was a bit bumpier than the first run, of course," Noel said. "I am happy with my race, even though you would prefer to win. My skiing is good and I feel that it will be even better in January."
Winner McGrath added: "This took a lot of effort, and I have such a passion for this sport, it’s hard to let it in. Now I go home. I get to see my girlfriend, it’s her birthday, so happy birthday."
Swiss Daniel Yule also could not excite the newspaper headline writers and finished 26th.
In the last race before the yuletide period in Italy, Loic Meillard of Switzerland was third.
Austrian Marco Schwarz won the giant slalom on Sunday at the Dolomites venue, his first win in 729 days following serious injury, but he was disqualified in Monday's slalom.
Last season's discipline champion Henrik Kristoffersen was only 22nd.
Four-times overall World Cup champion and standings leader Marco Odermatt does not regularly compete in slalom.
The season, which includes the Winter Olympics in Italy in February, continues in the country on December 27 with a men's super-g in Livigno while the women have a giant slalom in Semmering, Austria.
Category: General Sports
