Mikaël Kingsbury, winner of his last three World Cup appearances, had to endure some adversity on Saturday in Alpe d'Huez. Despite a defeat in the semi-finals of the parallel event, he bounced back in his final race of the day against Louis-David Chalifoux to take the bronze medal.
Wearing the yellow jersey of the event's overall leader, Kingsbury found himself in a duel with big names right at the start of his elimination course. But the Deux Montagnes athlete stayed true to form by stringing together wins and reaching the semi-finals, where he faced Walter Wallberg.
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As in their last encounters, the two opponents offered the spectators present an extremely exciting race. The Quebecer crossed the finish line 0.19 seconds ahead of Wallberg, but technical errors at the top of the track cost him valuable points and victory went to the Swede.
“I've tried everything! The blue course was a little more difficult, it wasn't the one I had ridden in the individual and it was a little more square. I pushed as hard as I could, made a few small mistakes on the descent and got to the bottom before him. I haven't seen the replay of the duel yet, but I can't wait to watch it,” Kingsbury said after Wallberg's win.
The latter put an exclamation mark on his day by winning gold against his compatriot Rasmus Stegfeldt.
“Obviously I'm a little disappointed that I didn't beat Walter to give myself the chance to go back to the other lane for the final, but that's just the way it is,” continued Kingsbury, who doesn't go hands-free anyway empty.
On the contrary, he recovered and defeated Louis-David Chalifoux in the small final. The veteran set the pace from the start of the race and his young teammate couldn't keep up. He came off the track shortly after the first jump, leaving Kingsbury alone on his way to the 120th podium of his World Cup career and a fifth in as many competitions this season.
“It's a good weekend for me. I am happy with my energy level and how I feel. I know that I can fight in any duel,” analyzed the man who had previously defeated three athletes who had won multiple medals at international level: the Swiss Marco Tade, the Kazakh Pavel Kolmakov and the Frenchman Benjamin Cavet.
“I'm really happy with my day! I fought well until the end, even though I had a difficult draw from the start,” concluded Kingsbury, who is still at the top of the provisional rankings in the discipline.
Chalifoux, for his part, has once again proven that he will be one to watch for the rest of the season. After finishing sixth and seventh in Idre Fjäll last week, the Quebec athlete moved even closer to the podium and his place in the final four on Saturday represents the best result of his World Cup career.
Just behind in the overall ranking of the event is Julien Viel, whose path was interrupted in the quarterfinals due to a setback against the same Chalifoux. Gabriel Dufresne (9th) was beaten by Wallberg in the round of 16.
Elliot Vaillancourt, silver medalist behind Kingsbury in the individual on Friday, was unable to repeat his success on Saturday. He was eliminated in his first qualifying race and is in 29th place.
The only Quebecer competing in the women's event, Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert (20th), lost her flag in the second elimination round to eventual silver medalist, American Olivia Giaccio.
The Canadian team will travel to Bakouriani, Georgia for a leg scheduled for December 22nd and 23rd.