The China Mail - Odermatt wins giant slalom in Val d'Isere as Noel crashes out

The 27-year-old, who failed to finish in his two previous giant slaloms this season, was quickest in the first run down the Face de Bellevarde before clinging on in difficult conditions in the second run to claim his fourth successive win at Val d'Isere.

He beat the Austrian pair of Patrick Feurstein, who finished just 0.08 seconds back, and Stefan Brennsteiner, who was 0.12sec off behind Odermatt.

"I really love this place," said Odermatt who has now won four times at Val d'Isere. "Here you really feel you're in winter."

A master of the discipline - he has Olympic and world championship gold, three small World Cup globe titles and 23 victories to his name including nine out of 10 last season - there was an element of redemption for 'Odi' after his catastrophic start to the winter when he failed to finish in Soelden and Beaver Creek.

"I always knew I was fast so (DNFs) weren't a big problem for me," said Odermatt. "But still, it hurts my confidence a bit so it was important to win today."

With this giant victory, Odermatt chalked up his second success of the winter after the Beaver Creek Super-G at the beginning of December, taking him up to second in the overall standings, 10 points behind the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen, who was second on the first run before finishing fifth.

Kristoffersen also took the lead in the giant slalom classification.

Feurstein was only 24th after the first run but produced a fine second run to take the lead, only being edged out by Odermatt on the final run of the day.

- Noel crashes -

Olympic slalom champion Clement Noel, winner of the first two slalom races of the World Cup season, came down to earth with a bump as he crashed on the opening run.

Competing under snowfall and in poor visibility, the French skier took a gate head-on after 45 seconds of racing and finished in the net.

The 27-year-old appeared to take a knock to his right leg but was able to put his skis back on and reach the bottom of the piste relying only on his left leg.

Noel, who won the first two slalom races of the season in Levi, Finland and Gurgl, Austria last month, looked in good spirits at the finish line despite appearing to have broken teeth and a painful right ankle.

"I had my teeth done straight away and they're all fine," said Noel.

"But my ankle still hurts. I haven't broken anything. We did a little ultrasound and we can see that there's a little sprain which is a bit annoying but it's not very serious, it normally requires a bit of rest."

The French Ski Federation said Noel would decide on Sunday whether he would compete in the slalom.

Y.Su--ThChM