Loïc Meillard also makes it onto the podium in the slalom in Madonna di Campiglio. The Frenchman finishes second behind the sensational Bulgarian Albert Popov. This is Meillard's fourth top-three finish in the fifth slalom of the winter.
Award ceremonies with Loïc Meillard after World Cup slaloms are slowly becoming a habit. The man from Neuchâtel, who has lived in Valais for a long time, achieved third place at the season opener in Levi in Finland, fifth place in Gurgl in the Ötztal, third place in Val d'Isère, second place in Alta Badia - and now second place again.
Meillard is not letting his back problems keep him from success in the pole forest. He didn't feel any pain on his second runs on the Canalone Miramonti piste, said the Frenchman after his work was done. The decision not to compete in the super-G shortly before the turn of the year in Bormio in Valtellina and the extended break of two and a half weeks have obviously done him good.
Consistency at the highest level is of course also reflected in the discipline rankings. Meillard travels to Adelboden as the leader, where the slalom will take place on Saturday following the change to the program due to the expected weather situation. "Competing at home with the red jersey is great. I'm looking forward to this weekend," says Meillard in the SRF interview.
Popov lets Bulgaria cheer
As many times as Meillard has been present at an award ceremony after a slalom this winter, he has never experienced a piece of skiing history this close up. The unleashed Popov advanced from 8th place to the top in the second run and thus ensured a historic triumph. He is only the second winner from Bulgaria in the Alpine Ski World Cup. Petar Popangelov was the only skier from this country to win the slalom in Lenggries, Germany, exactly 45 years ago to the day.
After the first run, it did not look as if the fifth slalom of the World Cup winter would bring such unexpected results. The Norwegian Atle Lie McGrath, who like Meillard had already traveled to Madonna di Campiglio with three podium places in the slalom this winter, led the intermediate rankings with a clear lead over the Frenchman. However, with victory in sight - he had started the second run with a lead of over a second ahead of Popov - the Northerner failed on the course designed by Swiss coach Matteo Joris. Samuel Kolega completed the podium. The Croatian continued his excellent results this season with his first podium finish in the World Cup.
A sad chapter on the road to victory
Popov's rise to victory will always be accompanied by a very sad chapter. He will never forget November 17, 2015 in his life. Popov was on his way to training on the Rettenbach glacier above Sölden with his coach Drago Grubelnik and one of the Slovenian's assistants when the car left the road and plummeted around 250 meters. Grubelnik, once a slalom racer in the World Cup himself, died shortly afterwards in hospital and the assistant coach suffered extremely serious injuries. Popov, on the other hand, miraculously escaped with a broken foot and a minor facial injury.
The physical wounds healed quickly, but the mental problems were of course more serious. Popov only returned to the World Cup a year later - in the giant slalom... on the Rettenbach glacier.
The 27-year-old Popov, who is only 1.64 meters tall, had only made it into the top three in the World Cup once before. Almost two years ago, he came third in the slalom in Palisades Tahoe in California.
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