Loïc Meillard unpacks his skills in the second slalom run in Alta Badia and races from 8th place to the podium. Daniel Yule fared differently, losing places in the final race. Comments on the race.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Loïc Meillard brings Swiss Ski another podium finish in the fourth race of the last four days, coming second behind the outstanding Norwegian Timon Haugan.
- The 28-year-old defied his back problems and improved by six positions in the second run.
- While Daniel Yule also takes positives from the race in ninth place, Ramon Zenhäusern suffers another disappointment.
Loïc Meillard makes it onto the podium for the third time in the fourth slalom of the season. In Alta Badia, he was only beaten by the outstanding Timon Haugan - even though he was plagued by back problems in the last race before the short Christmas break. "It's almost like a victory," Meillard explains in the SRF interview in the finish area. "Because this morning I thought it would be incredible to finish in the top 10."
Meillard achieves this in the first run, where he sets the eighth-best time. However, the 28-year-old went one better in the second run and actually made it onto the podium thanks to the second-best time. "What I didn't manage in the first run at the bottom, I changed well. It worked out."
Yule with a "step forward"
The race went differently for Daniel Yule. The second-best Swiss skier on the day was not quite able to keep up with the fastest skiers in the second run, losing a good one and a half seconds to Meillard, for example, and dropping from 6th to 9th place. "It's still a step forward," says Yule afterwards. "I can certainly build on two runs like this."
However, Yule is still looking for more ease in his runs, which also has to do with self-confidence. "You could also see with Odi, in the first run in Val d'Isère he wasn't as playful as yesterday in the second run. There were tracks, but he flew over the piste," says Yule, impressed, and fears: "Unfortunately, I'm no Marco Odermatt, it might take me a little longer."
Disappointment for Zenhäusern and Rochat
While Yule can take heart from the race in Alta Badia, Ramon Zenhäusern suffers his next disappointment. At 3.47 seconds behind, the 32-year-old even missed out on qualifying for the second run - in the same place where he triumphed four years ago.
"It was a bumpy affair from top to bottom," says Zenhäusern, who couldn't cope with the conditions at all and summarized after the second race without winning any points: "It's a mess."
Marc Rochat's assessment is similar. As in the first three slaloms, the 32-year-old did not make it to the finish. However, the mistake in Alta Badia is painful in two senses. "Unfortunately, I'm having a bit of trouble having fun at the moment," says Rochat at the finish. The Christmas break is probably just what he needs.
