Alpine skiing: Hirscher warns against French youngster

Marcel Hirscher does not want to overestimate his opening victory in the Levi slalom as pointing the way for the entire season. The ski dominator sees fresh competition ahead of him.

Last Sunday, in the far north, everything looked as good as ever in terms of results. Hirscher prevailed just before his permanent rival of recent years, the Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen.

So the hierarchy in the slalom circus remains the same? “The question is how long,” Hirscher replies to the crown, for the Salzburg man has identified “a few real turbos” in the field.

“The young Frenchman Clement Noel, who dropped out shortly before the finish in the second run, attracted my attention in Schladming two years ago,” says Hirscher. “And there’s more of those youngsters who attack all the way, who put all their eggs in one basket.”

With the Swiss Tanguy Nef (22), who made his World Cup debut in Levi in eleventh place, another talent emerged.