Romerikingen won when the men raced slalom in Levi last time in 2019. Kristoffersen has never been outside the podium in Levi. That didn’t happen this time either. He has reached the podium six times in the Finnish winter city.
For Kristoffersen, it was too far to win after the average 1st round. The Frenchman Clément Noël defended his lead and finished a full 0.80 seconds ahead of Kristoffersen.
88th time on the podium
This was Kristoffersen’s 88th time on the podium, and thus he tied Alberto Tomba’s tally. This can be heard in the alpine world.
– Best lap time in the 2nd half. It’s an emotional rollercoaster. There wasn’t much to save. It was just a matter of leaving it alone. An extremely big step in the right direction after a bad 1st half. It’s good to start the season with two 2nd places, Kristoffersen told Viaplay.
Lucas Braathen was beaten by 1.05 seconds and finished fourth for the second time in a row as a Brazilian competitor in the comeback season. The Swiss Loïc Meillard took the last podium place.
Six Norwegians
There were a total of six Norwegians who qualified for the 2nd round.
Alexander Steen Olsen won the season opener in giant slalom in Sölden at the end of October. 7th place in the 1st round eventually became 8th place in Sunday’s race.
Atle Lie McGrath was number 12, Timon Haugan number 14, Sebastian Foss Solevåg number 19 and Eirik Hystad Solberg number 23.
Timon Haugan took Norway’s only slalom victory last season. It happened in the last World Cup race of the season in Saalbach.
(© NTB)