Penultimate to start this Saturday in the second round of the Kranjska Gora slalom, Alexis Pinturault had immense pressure on his shoulders.
Before him, his Swiss rival for the big crystal globe, Marco Odermatt, had struck a big blow by crushing the competition.
The French, leader of the general classification of the World Cup, could not answer him.
The Courchevel skier, 25th fastest in the second round, finished at the foot of the podium, far behind the Swiss Odermatt (+ 1'11), and thus lost precious points in the race for the big crystal globe.
Pinturault 3rd provisional time behind his great rival Odermatt, author of a second round of madness on the giant of Kranjska Gora!
#ChaletClub pic.twitter.com/aIc9euDFoT
- Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) March 13, 2021
Under a bright sun, in a Slovenian resort where he had won twice, "Pintu" will have all the more regrets as he only fails five hundredths behind Loïc Meillard, 2nd, and two hundredths behind Stefan Brennsteiner, 3rd.
While he had 81 points more than Odermatt in the general classification, Saturday morning before the giant, the Savoyard has only 31 points in advance.
There are five events to go, including the Kranjska Gora slalom this Sunday, in which only Pinturault will participate.
Odermatt also takes over the ranking of the specialty, so far dominated by the French.
The suspense is going to be huge next week at the World Cup finals in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
The French well present
In total, six of the seven French people at the start of this giant took part in the second round - a record since the Val d'Isère giant in 2013. The double world champion Mathieu Faivre is 5th (+ 1'18).
Thibaut Favrot is ranked 12th (+ 1'70), Victor Muffat-Jeandet 24th (3'00), just ahead of Cyprien Sarrazin (+ 3'07th).
Finally, the slalom specialist Clément Noël, who had rallied the second lack of a giant for the first time in his career, could not do better than 30th (+ 7.46), weighed down by two huge faults.
