He was back in France, in Val d'Isère, for the first time since his historic victory in the general classification of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, 24 years after the last Frenchman Luc Alphand.
Alpine skier Alexis Pinturault (30) had to settle for second place in the giant slalom this Saturday.
Switzerland's Marco Odermatt finished 59 hundredths ahead.
The Austrian Manuel Feller completed the podium (+1 ″ 24).
Frenchman Mathieu Faivre is eighth.
"It's my first podium of the year, the conditions were far from easy," responded Alexis Pinturault, at the microphone of the channel L'Équipe.
I'm pretty happy, we now have to build for the future.
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💬 Alexis Pinturault, 2nd in the Val d'Isère giant: “It's a good result, it's my first podium of the year.
We must now build for the future »#lequipeSKI pic.twitter.com/k1E6Bc4bxa
- the L'Équipe channel (@lachainelequipe) December 11, 2021
A future that is now being written more than ever with Marco Odermatt.
The 24-year-old skier, runner-up to the Frenchman last season, has been impressive since the start of the season.
Before this new demonstration of the day, the Swiss had already won as a giant in Sölden (Austria), on October 24, and in Beaver Creek (United States), on December 2.
In his two races, the Frenchman finished fifth and sixth respectively.
This victory allows him, in any case, to consolidate his lead at the top of the general classification, with 136 points more than the Austrian Matthias Mayer (2nd).
Alexis Pinturault occupies fourth place.