Swiss slalom specialist Daniel Juhl took advantage of a deteriorating course in spring-like conditions on Sunday to become the first skier to win a World Cup race from 30th place after the opening run. .
Juhl made a big mistake on his first run on the Verte course and was selected as the final rider with a narrow margin of 1.93 seconds over the leader, Clement Noel.
Racing on a weakened course in mild temperatures, Yule benefited from an early start on his second start, posting the fastest times in all four sections.
The pace slowed due to the deteriorating course, and most racers lost a tenth of their initial advantage over Yule at each checkpoint, finishing far behind. His teammate Loïc Maillard was closest, moving from fifth to second, chasing Juhl by 0.16 seconds.
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Noel, the leader from the first run, fell back to 3rd place, 0.18 behind the lead.
“It's absolutely incredible. I have to say I was really lucky to stay in 30th place after the first run. But then I had a great second run.” Yule said. “Wow, that's incredible. It's been a long journey to get here, but it's been a lot of fun.”
No athlete, male or female, has ever won a World Cup race after finishing the opening run in 30th place, the lowest place for a racer to start the second run.
Juhl broke the previous record set by Lukas Braaten, who won from 29th place in the Wengen slalom two years ago.
“I was already packed and ready to go back to the hotel,” Yule said. “But then I had a chance to ski the second one and I thought, “I've done something like this before, it's warm weather, I have a perfect track, maybe I can aim for a top 10.'' But I never dreamed of winning. “
As a result, Olympic champion Noel failed to win for the first time in over a year. The Frenchman has 10 career wins, but only one since winning gold at the Beijing Olympics two years ago.
Noel also took the lead in the opening run of the night slalom at Madonna di Campiglio in Italy last December, but ultimately finished runner-up to Marco Schwartz.
The result put Schwartz at the top of the overall standings, but the Austrian suffered a season-ending knee injury on the downhill stretch the following week.
Manuel Ferrer was fourth, 0.34 behind. The Austrian has won three of the seven slalom events so far this season, taking the lead in the event standings.
Linus Strasser, who won the last two rotations in Kitzbühel and Schladming, finished 14th, 0.60 seconds behind.
The slalom at Chamonix, the resort at the foot of Mont Blanc that hosted the first Winter Olympics in 1924, was the only World Cup ski race to be held this weekend.
Two men's downhill races in Chamonix and a women's speed race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany were all canceled due to poor snow conditions.