(Sportcom) – Jules Lefebvre became the only Quebecer to qualify for the second run of the parallel giant slalom presented Friday at the Blue Mountain World Cup in Ontario. However, a fall in his second heat destroyed his chances of entering the elimination rounds in front of the Canadian fans.
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“I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed,” launched the Montrealer, day 29. in the final classification.
After setting the 15th fastest time on the red course in his first run, Lefebvre was beaten by the blue course on the second run. He crashed out of a gate before returning to the finish line, except the damage was already done.
“The conditions have been difficult and I have a lot of difficulties when the conditions are not optimal,” he continued. We haven’t had much snow in Quebec, but it’s worse here and for me personally it was a “challenge”. However, it’s my own fault, I just have to get better, no matter what the surface is like.
Pole Oskar Kwiatkowski defied the track conditions and won the second World Cup of his career. In the grand final he defeated the Austrian veteran Alexander Payer, who took his third medal of the campaign.
The podium was completed by the Italian and Vice World Champion Roland Fischnaller, 42 years old.
“There were many unexpected traps and many athletes were caught. On the other hand, some old foxes did very well and we see that the experience pays off!” laughed Lefebvre.
Ontario’s Ben Heldman had the best Canadian result, finishing 20th. Justin Carpentier, Arnaud Gaudet and Émile Gaudet, for their part, failed to qualify in the first stage.
Of all, Carpentier came closest and finished in 35th place, 0.43 seconds away from 32nd and last place, which allowed access to the next round. Seventeenth in Thursday’s parallel slalom, Arnaud Gaudet was 42nd while his older brother Émile is 46th.
In the women’s, Aurélie Moisan and Anne-Laurie Bettez were also stopped from the start and finished 21st and 25th respectively in the event won by Germany’s Ramona Theresia Hofmeister. Julie Zogg (Switzerland) with silver and Daniela Ulbing (Austria) with bronze also made it onto the podium.
The Alpine Snowboard World Cup is on hiatus until March to make way for the World Championships, which begin February 19 in Bakuriani, Georgia.
However, it would be surprising to see Jules Lefebvre in action in these worlds. The Olympian from the Beijing Games will instead focus on his activities on the Nor Am Cup circuit and studying software engineering at the Polytechnique Montreal.
“My goal for this year is really to secure a spot in the World Cup for next year. Most of my season is coming in the next few weeks and I feel ready,” concluded the man who was due to graduate from high school next December and will then focus entirely on securing an Olympic ticket for the Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo games .