The leader of the French team Alexis Pinturault was the fastest in the first round of the combined, a super-G, which opens the men’s events at the Alpine Skiing World Championships in Courchevel on Tuesday.
The five-time world medalist, titled in combined in 2019, is ahead of a trio of Austrians made up of Marco Schwarz (at 06/100), Raphael Haaser (at 14/100) and Vincent Kriechmayr (at 58/100).
A little further on is the Swiss Loïc Meillard (1 sec 34), favorite of the combined, who mixes a round of super-G then another of slalom, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on the Eclipse track.
The Swiss world No. 1 Marco Odermatt had a superb run before missing one of the last gates, causing his disqualification in a discipline where he was however not expected.
“The second run remains to be able to have fun, said Pinturault after the first. The confidence is there. The last slalom races were not very good.
At 31, “Pintu” plays at home in Courchevel, where he partly grew up. However, he will have to be wary of Schwarz, defending champion who overtook him at Cortina d’Ampezzo, and Meillard, third on this occasion.
