2024-01-28 23:16:11
Not everything necessarily went as hoped. For the opening event of the season, finally moved to Verbier this weekend, the Swiss had podium ambitions. They will have to be content with a few positive results and above all with confidence gained for the rest of the season. All in conditions that were ultimately better than expected.
This is particularly the case of Sybille Blanjean. Despite a committed and controlled run, the Valaisanne could not do better than 6th on Saturday. “I had a lot of fun even if I didn’t land perfectly on my last two landings, I didn’t come far from falling, but it held up, my legs are strong,” declared the winner of the Verbier Xtreme 2022. It feels good to start the season, especially at home.” The level of women’s skiing was particularly high for this event and it was the Polish woman from Vercorin, Zuzanna Witych, who won.
Maxime Chabloz: “It’s so scary!”
On the men’s side, Maxime Chabloz in particular was eagerly awaited. And the Nidwaldo-Vaudois did rather well, finishing 6th. “It was really hard to climb to the top of this face, physically but especially mentally,” explained the 2022 world champion. “It’s so scary! I’m happy with my top of the course, even if I got a little lost but then at the bottom, I was scared. Other than that, I’m happy to be at the finish and to have made a run. I can build on that.”
Build, to continue to chain the exploits. “I want to continue building my image on that. If I had stopped after my first season when I had won almost everything, I think people would have forgotten me pretty quickly. I’m here to make people dream, to show off my beautiful skiing,” added the man who suffered from a small dislocation of his hip last week. “Today, I didn’t want to take too many unnecessary risks, especially since I saw that a lot of riders fell.”
Mission accomplished with a view to making the cut before the finals in Fieberbrunn and especially the Xtreme. “It’s always good to score good points in the first competition, especially at home, even if it’s not a face that I love and I’m still short of kilometers of skiing,” also admitted the who is also one of the best kitesurfers in the world.
Martin Bender: “It’s a childhood dream!”
In skiing, another Swiss managed to score points, although Martin Bender was hoping for better than a 13th place for his elite debut. “I just made a mistake on the axis of my last 360,” he conceded. There was clearly a way to tackle him but I didn’t take it the way I was supposed to.” Disappointed but not dejected, the 19-year-old from Valais was nevertheless happy to be able to set off in front of all his loved ones. “I was really looking forward to making a run on this face,” he recalls. Being able to start on the Tour is a childhood dream!” And even if he fell at the end of the run, the rider from Martigny has already proven that he has his place among the elite.
This is obviously also the case for his friend Simon Perraudin, who is competing in his second season on the Freeride World Tour. Weary for him, he did not reach the end of his run this Saturday. “It was pretty good at first and then I miscalculated my speed and lost a ski,” he says. I wanted to go a little “bigger” than last year and I was perhaps a little too excited for the moment, especially to be able to ride here, at home when I didn’t have the chance to do so. the Bec last year (editor’s note: he didn’t make the cut)”. Now I have to digest the disappointment but I am happy with what I was able to show before my fall. You learn by falling, that’s freeride.”
Thibault Magnin: “Adrenaline and fear are something else”
Another rider who is in the middle of a learning phase is Thibault Magnin. The Fribourgeois, who competes under the colors of Spain, received an invitation from the organizers this year, even though he is more accustomed to freestyle competitions. He also failed to complete his run in Verbier. However, he kept smiling in the finish area.
“It’s really a good experience, especially to ski a face as steep, as challenging as this one,” he explained. I skied well until my fall. Honestly, with the change of location of the event (from Baqueira Beret in Spain to Verbier), it was a big shock. I wasn’t necessarily ready to ski a face like this for my first competition.” The fact remains that he is gradually making his place among the best freeriders on the planet. “I feel good in this world even if the adrenaline and the fear are something else. But I’m down, whole and it’s still a good experience. In any case, it’s a process,” continued the man who does not rule out doing one or the other freestyle experience between now and the end of the winter.
Liam Rivera: “I could have done better”
Finally, a Swiss was also lined up in snowboarding since Liam Rivera, who previously competed under the Mexican colors, now displays the Swiss flag next to his name on the start lists. A change that he chose to make in the off-season “because in sporting terms and in the future, I think it makes more sense to run for Switzerland”. Third in the championship last season, the Fribourgeois took 10th place in Verbier after falling on the landing of a 360.
“I’m a little disappointed because I could have done better,” he regrets. Falling on my easiest section of the face is a shame. Personally, I felt good, I was motivated by my choice of line.” However, nothing to discourage the 23-year-old rider. “I am looking forward to the future. I take one competition after another. The first goal is to make the cut and then we’ll see if there’s room for more.”
Because yes, Verbier was only the beginning of a long season which will in any case pass through Canada, Georgia and Austria before returning to Verbier for the Xtreme in March.
Laurent Morel, Verbier
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