Pinturault injury overshadows Sarrazin's Wengen super-G success / Photo: Fabrice COFFRINI - AFP
Pinturault injury overshadows Sarrazin's Wengen super-G success
Cyprien Sarrazin gave France their first men's super-G victory in a decade, denying Swiss star Marco Odermatt a double on his home snow in Wengen on Friday.
But the French party was spoiled by the spectacular fall of Alexis Pinturault which ruled the 2021 overall World Cup winner out for the rest of the season.
The combined world champion, who became a father a few days ago, came a cropper after a bad landing on a jump and was evacuated by helicopter.
"This victory is for Alexis, for his family. I hope he is OK," said Sarrazin after his second win of the season, and first in super-G for a French skier since Pinturault ten years ago.
But the French ski federation later confirmed Pinturault's "season is over" after tests revealed a "ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee".
Pinturault, who has the best track record of skiers on the men's circuit with 34 World Cup successes, had moved up a gear this season, giving up slalom to discover downhill.
The 32-year-old achieved his first Top 10 in downhill on Thursday, taking a respectable ninth place on the Lauberhorn.
On Friday, Sarrazin, 29, became the first Frenchman to win a super-G since Pinturault in 2014.
Sarrazin had finished second in Thursday's downhill behind Odermatt but pipped the overall World Cup leader in the super-G by 0.58sec to claim his second victory of the season.
Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde rounded off the podium for a second consecutive day finishing one second off the pace.
"Today I played and I really enjoyed my run. I feel great, I'm really proud,” said Sarrazin.
"At the bottom, I was 90, 95 per cent, telling myself 'stay smart, stay on your feet, you did a great run'.”
- 'Tough to beat' -
Starting with the number 3 bib, Sarrazin had a blistering run, hitting early speeds of over 134km, and staying on his feet despite clipping the nets at the edge of the Lauberhorn piste on one of its narrowest turns.
"It's really good! After the jump, you have to really push, push," Sarrazin excitedly told his teammates after the run which earned him a third World Cup triumph.
The victory showed his success in Bormio at the end of December was no fluke after having the race of his life in the Italian resort to win the first downhill of his career.
"From top to bottom he was the fastest and he deserves it. I saw him skiing and I already thought that would be very tough to beat," said Odermatt.
Odermatt paid for errors mid-run, and will be hoping to improve in Saturday's downhill with the slalom on Sunday.
"It was already the longest super-G and tomorrow the longest downhill (on the World Cup tour)," said Odermatt.
"I hope the legs will be fresh enough to attack the whole race."
Out of sorts Kilde, recovering from a bout of flu, achieved his sixth podium in nine races as he chases his first win this season.
"It's not easy to beat either Odermatt or Sarrazin these days," lamented the Norwegian.
N.Steward--EWJ
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