Clement Noel shines in Chamonix

Clement Noel was always close to his first victory of the 2020-21 season, and today he finally got it in a tight race that came down to the wire edging Ramon Zenhaeusern by 0.16 seconds.

Noel’s last slalom victory came last season, also in Chamonix. Since then, he has found himself in a strong position after the first run many times, but unable to string together two strong runs for the victory. Today was Noel’s third podium of the season, after earning two second-places this year.

It was an exciting race from start to finish as just 0.03 seconds separated the top-three racers after the first run. Marco Schwarz sat in first place after the first run, and ultimately ended in third on the day. Meanwhile Noel climbed from third place into first, while Zenhaeusern stayed steady in second place in both runs.

Schwarz has been one of the most consistent performers on tour this season. The Austrian has only finished out of the top-10 twice in the last ten races and has seven podiums to his credit during the same span.

The near-fairy tale ending nearly came for Luca Aerni, who barely made the second run in 29th place, but finally would finish the day in fourth place 0.47 seconds off the winning pace. Aerni had an incredibly second run topping the rest of the field by 0.88 seconds. Racer-after-racer came down and could not knock Aerni out of the leader’s char, until today’s Big 3 were at the start gate.

Today was the first of two slalom races scheduled in Chamonix. Organizers are hoping for colder temperatures overnight to help freeze the course after warm temperatures and freezing rain have plagued the region the last few days.