Swedish skier Kristoffer Jakobsen set the best time on Sunday in the first round of the Kitzbühel slalom in Austria at the end of which French Olympic champion Clément Noël took fifth place.
Starting with bib 20, Jakobsen surprised everyone by beating the Swiss Daniel Yule (5 hundredths) and the Austrian Manuel Feller (23 hundredths) to the wire.
The 31-year-old Tyrolean, who has won three of the four slaloms contested since the start of winter, was acclaimed like a rockstar in front of his audience in Kitzbühel.
For his part, the French Olympic champion Clément Noël took fifth place in this first round, 42 hundredths behind the leader. He remains in the running to get on the podium.
“In the end I did well,” said the Frenchman. I’m comfortable on the snow so that’s a good sign for the second round. I’m going to try to push more and go for it because casually I’m in the match.
The day before, he was not able to celebrate Cyprien Sarrazin’s double in the downhill with the rest of the French team, but assured that his teammate’s feat »motivated« him. “These are things that boost your team,” he added.
Behind him, the French had a good first round with Steven Amiez 7th, Paco Rassat 17th and Hugo Desgrippes 23rd. The second round is scheduled from 1:30 p.m.
