Alpine skiing-Olympic champion Noel wins Madonna night slalom
FILE PHOTO: Alpine Skiing - FIS Alpine Ski World Cup - Men's Slalom - Alta Badia, Italy - December 22, 2025 France's Clement Noel in action during his second run REUTERS/Angelika Warmuth/File Photo
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy, Jan 7 : France's reigning Olympic slalom champion Clement Noel mastered icy conditions to take his first win of the World Cup Alpine skiing season on Wednesday with less than a month to go before the start of the Milano Cortina Games.
After two second places in the four previous slaloms, Noel got it together under the floodlights in the Italian resort of Madonna di Campiglio to beat Finland's first-run leader Eduard Hallberg by 0.12 seconds over the two legs.
Hallberg had looked to be on course for his first win until he made a small but costly mistake six gates from the finish.
France's Paco Rassat, winner on Austrian snow in Gurgl in November, finished third on the Canalone Miramonti piste with Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen fourth.
Noel is now three points behind Norway's Timon Haugan, who tied for sixth place with Belgium's Armand Marchant, in the slalom standings with Rassat third after skiing the fastest second leg to secure his second career podium.
There have now been five different slalom winners in five races this season.
"It was a tough race, it was really tight," said Noel, who was third after the first run.
"I was not really happy with my first run but I was in contention. I knew it was going to need a lot of commitment in the second."
The win was the 15th of his career in the World Cup.
The Olympics start on February 6.
