Sports writing, (EFE).- The French Alexis Pinturault, world champion of the discipline in Are’19 (Sweden) and silver two years ago in Cortina d’Ampezzo (Italy) leads the combined Alpine Ski World Championships from Courchevel and Méribel (France) after the first round, a super-giant, in which he was six hundredths ahead of the Austrian Marco Schwarz, who defends the title.
Pinturault was the fastest in the first part of a test that takes place in Courchevel and that will end at half past two in the afternoon (1:30 p.m. GMT) with the decisive slalom sleeve. The Frenchman covered the 1,857 meters of the L’Eclipse track, starting at an altitude of 1,880 meters and a drop of 590, in one minute, eight seconds and 25 hundredths, six less than Schwarz and with an advantage of 14 over another Austrian, Raphael Haaser, who occupies the provisional third place.
Johannes Strolz, who won Olympic gold in the discipline for Austria a year ago at the Beijing Games, was almost two and a half seconds behind Pinturault’s time, so he can practically be considered discarded to occupy any of the honorary positions in the mixed test.
Albert Ortega occupies the provisional twenty-first place
The Catalan Albert Ortega, the only Spanish participant, occupies the twenty-first provisional place in the combined.
Ortega covered the 1,857 meters of the L’Eclipse track, starting at an altitude of 1,880 meters and a drop of 590, in one minute, ten seconds and 18 hundredths; and he was one second and 93 hundredths behind Pinturault’s time, who was the fastest in the first part of a test that takes place in Courchevel and that will be completed from half past two in the afternoon (1:30 p.m. GMT) with the decisive slalom heat.
