It now seems unlikely that Alexis Pinturault will win a large crystal globe for the second year in a row. The Courchevel skier moves further away from the lead in the general classification of the Alpine Skiing World Cup after the giant of Alta Badia in Italy on Monday. He finished 18th, and it was once again the Swiss Marco Odermat who won.
“I missed a wagon”
Alexis Pinturault thinks he has found one of the problems to explain his mixed results: he still uses 193cm skis where several of his main opponents in giants have switched to 198cm boards. “Looks like I missed a wagon. Now almost everyone uses longer skis. I didn’t think it could make such a difference but it is very real.”, Alexis Pinturault told AFP. The Courchevel skier plans to lighten his World Cup program to focus on his equipment problems that he must resolve.
“We must remain optimistic even if the situation is complicated”
In the immediate future Alexis Pinturault has other things to think about than the general classification of the World Cup according to Frédéric Perrin, the manager of the France technical men’s team. “Of course the situation is complicated but he has two or three problems to resolve before thinking about the classification. Yes he is moving away from the big crystal globe but we cannot say at the end of December that the general is finished and that we put a cross on it. We must always remain a little optimistic “ considers Frédéric Perrin.