Loïc Meillard finishes third in his first slalom of the winter after recovering from a back injury. He is satisfied with his performance, but the pain is not yet completely gone, as he says in an interview with SRF.
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- Loîc Meillard comes third in the first slalom of the winter. This comes after he had to withdraw from the season opener in Sölden (giant slalom) due to injury.
- Meillard says: "There is certainly room for improvement in the second run, but it was still a good performance."
- The next few hours would be "less fun", however, as his body would be making itself known.
- Tanguy Nef surprises with 5th place. The 27-year-old has never been better placed. He explains how he achieved this in an interview.
Loîc Meillard had to miss the season opener in Sölden due to back problems. He has now made an impressive comeback in the slalom in Levi. The 28-year-old completed the podium behind Clément Noel and Henrik Kristoffersen.
"I'm really happy," says Meillard in the SRF interview after the race. It was already a good feeling for him to be able to compete here at all. "To leave here in Levi with a podium place is simply brilliant." Despite his success, Meillard is also self-critical: "There is certainly room for improvement in the second run, but it was still a good performance."
He said he was relieved to have come back like this. "It's clear that I can ski. But tonight and tomorrow will be a little less fun." Because when the adrenaline is gone, he feels the aches and pains. "But that's part of it. Now we have a few days to recover before Gurgl." The next slalom will take place there next Sunday.
Tanguy Nef is delighted with his best career result
Tanguy Nef has also made a furious start to the new season and achieved his best career result with a 5th place. Did the 27-year-old himself expect such a performance? "It sounds a bit strange, because I honestly didn't have any expectations for today. I knew that I was fast in training. I've been near Loîc a few times and knew that I could ride fast."
He said he was just happy that things went well today. "I didn't have much pressure, I just rode relaxed. Top 10, top 15, top 20, that would have been fine, top 5 is great. And I think I'll approach the rest of the season with this mentality."
Did he really feel no pressure, even though he was able to keep up with Meillard a few times in training? "Loîc has all the pressure for the whole team. There's not so much pressure on my shoulders. I was the sixth Swiss at the start today." He simply concentrated on what they had trained in the "perfect preparation". When asked when he will stand on the podium for the first time, Nef says in an interview with SRF, accompanied by a smile: "Maybe not in Gurgl, maybe in Gurgl, maybe later. We'll see."
