World Cup stars dominate French National Championships

At the end of a long World Cup season, French ski stars returned home to hunt for National titles during the final week of March. Races kicked off with slalom and giant slalom in Lelex, France.

In the men’s giant slalom, Cyprien Sarrazin bested Alexis Pinturault by 0.44 seconds. Sarrazin was coming off a strong World Cup season in which he won his first World Cup race–a parallel giant slalom in Alta Badia, Italy. Rounding out the podium was Victor Muffat-Jeandet, 0.81 seconds off of the winning pace.

Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom

Unsurprisingly, Tessa Worley–the 2017 World Cup giant slalom globe winner–took the win in the women’s GS by 1.05 seconds. She was chased by Jade Grillet Aubert, a Europa Cup skier, in second place and World Cup regular Romane Miradoli in third place.

The slalom results had a similar look, filled mostly with World Cup stars. On the women’s side, Adeline Baud Mugnier won the race by 1.06 seconds with a total time of 1:33.30. Anne-Sophie Barthet earned a second-place results and Laurie Mougel finished in third place.

Things were shaken up a bit in the men’s slalom race as young Val d’Isere skier Clement Noel beat out Muffat-Jeandet and Jean-Baptiste Grange for the win. Noel has started in three World Cup races in his career and never qualified for a second run, making the victory over World Cup veterans especially impressive. Muffat-Jeandet won the second run, but couldn’t make up enough time to beat Noel, ending up 0.10 seconds away from the win. Grange was 0.67 seconds off the winning pace.

Later in the week, the pace of racing changed as the disciplines switched to speed in Val Thorens, France. Baud Mugnier was able to take home her second National title of the series in the women’s alpine combined, narrowly beating Barthet by 0.06 seconds. Miradoli once again found herself in the bronze position, 0.32 seconds off the pace.

In the men’s race, Muffat-Jeandet snagged the victory with a total time of 1:52.40, nearly a half second ahead of Sarrazin in second place. French Europa Cup skier Mazime Rizzo came in third place.

Photo by Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom

Finally in super-G, Worley won the women’s title while Adrien Theaux took it home for the men. In the ladies’ race, Worley came across the finish line 0.28 seconds faster that Tiffany Gauthier, who had a final time of 1:13.68. Miradoli tied with Marie Massios in third place, 0.44 seconds away from the win.

In the men’s competition, Theaux was separated from second-place finisher Blaise Giezendanner by just 0.06 seconds. Sarrazin found the podium yet again, finishing in third place.

Complete results from Lelex are available here.
Complete results from Val Thorens are available here.