Margot Bailet’s little brother was crowned Super-G world champion on Monday in Sochi. Mathieu Faivre reconnected with a Top 5 finish. In short, the skiers from Nice are in great form and are having an outstanding season.
2015-2016 will not be a “blank year” for the skiers from the French Riviera. Since the beginning of the season, they have been delivering top-tier performances around the world. Mathieu Faivre achieved his first career podium, Nastasia Noens is back on a World Cup podium, and Mathieu Bailet has succeeded Alexis Pinturault as the junior world championship titleholder.
Faivre, an almost perfect season
February 13 will remain a memorable date for Mathieu Faivre. Nearly 10,000 kilometers from Nice, on the slopes of Yuzawa Naeba in Japan, the skier from Isola 2000 landed on his first World Cup podium with a second place finish behind Alexis Pinturault. After circling around it for a long time, with several Top 10 finishes and a 4th place in December 2013, Faivre’s first goal is achieved. This winter, the results have been convincing. In 8 races, Mathieu Faivre has achieved seven Top 10 finishes including a podium and only one abandonment, which occurred last weekend in Hinterstoder before bouncing back 48 hours later to secure a fourth place in the second giant slalom. This weekend, he will once again have the opportunity to perform with two Giant Slaloms over three days in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia). He is currently in 6th place in the discipline standings, just 6 points away from 5th. With further strong performances, he could break into the Top 5.
Noens gets back on track
She waited two years to secure another World Cup podium. On February 15, in Crans Montana (Switzerland), Nastasia Noens finished 2nd behind American star Mikaela Shiffrin. This marks her third career podium after Flachau in 2011 and Bormio in 2014. At 27 years old, the skier from the Inter Club seems to be finding her pace with 6 Top 10 finishes in 10 slalom events this season. These strong performances place her 6th in the discipline standings, 23 points shy of the Top 5. This Sunday, in Jasna, Slovakia, she will have another opportunity to confirm her good form.
Margot Bailet hot and cold
She came very close to a podium on December 4 with a very impressive fourth place in the downhill at Lake Louise (Canada). The first part of winter was good for the skier from the Inter Club of Nice, following up with a fifth place in the Val d’Isère combined (12/18) and a 7th place in the Altenmarkt downhill (Austria). However, the good streak ended in late January and since then, Margot Bailet has struggled. For three consecutive weekends, she has finished outside the Top 30, but on Saturday in Andorra, the skier from Nice performed well again with a 17th place in the Super-G, just half a second from the Top 10. Bailet is now looking forward to the Lenzerheide stage in Switzerland on March 12-13, with a Super-G and a combined event on the program before the finals in Saint-Moritz.
A little brother making his mark
Two years after the Sochi Olympics, the Russian course hosted the junior world championships this week. Matthieu Bailet, not yet 20 years old, distinguished himself in the best possible way by securing the world champion title in the Super-G. The skier from Nice’s Inter Club shone with bib number 2, benefiting from a pristine course but with the pressure that comes with it. He was the only one to finish in under 1’10” and was ahead of a Canadian and a Swiss skier. Margot Bailet’s little brother was relatively unknown before this high-profile performance, having achieved success in a national race in Chatel and several Top 10s in FIS Race, considered the stepping stone to professional competitions. He crosses an important milestone here and succeeds Alexis Pinturault, the last French gold medalist. The Nice native also placed 10th in the combined and 15th in the downhill. Promising for the future of the French speed skiing team.
