Ski cross in Val Thorens
Bischofberger on the podium
Marc Bischofberger, the silver medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics, only has to give way to two opponents in Val Thorens.
Marc Bischofberger (right) is third in Val Thorens. (ARCHIVE)
After the successful start of the season with two podium finishes, a Swiss ski crosser also made it onto the podium in the second World Cup race in Val Thorens, France. Marc Bischofberger is third.
It was Bischofberger’s first podium finish since February 2020, when he celebrated his fourth World Cup win in Sunny Valley, Russia. Last winter, however, the 31-year-old from Appenzeller was not able to build on his earlier successes and was ultimately not nominated for the Olympic Games in Beijing.
After the disappointing 30th place on Thursday, the 2018 Olympic silver medalist returned with a strong performance. Thanks to a daring overtaking maneuver, Bischofberger made it through to the final, where he had to admit defeat to Austrian premiere winner Mathias Graf and Frenchman Youri Duplessis Kergomard.
For Bischofberger’s teammates, the second appearance on the race track in the French Alps, which was soft due to the snowfall, was not very pleasant. Jonas Lenherr, third on Thursday, failed in the round of 16, as did Olympic champion Ryan Regez. Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Alex Fiva survived a knockout round before falling out in the quarterfinals after a fall.
Naslund outperforms Smith
In the women’s category, Swede Sandra Näslund repeated her victory from the previous day. The Olympic champion in Beijing triumphed for the 30th time at the highest level and can now call herself the sole World Cup record winner. The day before she had caught up with Fanny Smith.
The Vaud native, who narrowly missed her 75th World Cup podium finish in fourth place, was only in action for a short time on Friday. Because of a cold, Smith broke off her quarter-final run after a few seconds of driving in order to rest for the home race on Monday in Arosa.
Local hero Talina Gantenbein will arrive with a good feeling. After her 3rd place at the start, the Grisons missed her second participation in the final, but left her three competitors behind in the small final and finished fifth. (SDA)