Mikaël Kingsbury is where he wanted to be. The Quebecer scored a third victory in a row and reached the podium for a fourth time in as many races this season by winning the Alpe d’Huez Moguls World Cup.
Kingsbury, who won both the singles and parallel events last week at Idre Fjall in Sweden, collected 86.55 points to edge compatriot Elliot Vaillancourt, second at 77.44.
“I don’t focus on results; I try to ski to the best of my ability. When I do that, I know that when I do that, I increase my chances of making podiums, Kingsbury said by videoconference from the French Alps. It has always been important for me to start the season with rhythm. I have accustomed you – 10 times in 12 years – to winning the first race of the season at Ruka. This time I made some small mistakes on the last descent which caused me to finish third. It motivated me. I arrived on a mission to Idre Fjall. I try to keep this pace.
“I feel good in my ski boots. My timing is good. I believe in my chances every time. When you get on the podium, it creates confidence. This is what risks happening with Elliot, he added about his partner, for whom it was a first career podium.
“Last year, at Deer Valley [for my first super final], my head was everywhere at the top of the course and I had completely lost control,” argued the Drummondvillois. [Friday], the scores were worse than in the final, the track was a little tougher. I told myself to stick to my game plan and get down there. I did that well.
“I saw the scores of the other guys sitting comfortably in my leader’s chair downstairs and I told myself that it was going to hold up, until Monsieur, as I call him, arrived! I said to myself that if I’m going to get beaten up, it might as well be by the best of all time. It’s been an incredible day, I’m extremely happy. »
Japan’s Ikuma Horishima (77.23) finished third, his third podium of the season. When Kingsbury was about to start his last descent of the day, he heard the Japanese score. He knew his partner was first in the standings.
“I didn’t want to ruin this great opportunity [to score a double]. I knew he was the leader, but I didn’t want to let him win that easily! I stayed focused on my plan. When I crossed the line, I knew I had done something good, at least to finish first or second.
“It’s special, it’s been a long time since we’ve done that,” added the 31-year-old worker from Deux-Montagnes. I had done a few with Alexandre Bilodeau, a little with Philippe Marquis. To see Canada back on the top of the podium is good. »
Without mentioning a turning point, Vaillancourt believes that his day on Friday was the result of his numerous learnings over the last two seasons.
“One thing is certain: I learned a lot this week. Even if I have not obtained the expected results in the other races so far, I am approaching the winter with the ambition to learn from each race. It’s difficult to learn a big lesson from today’s race, apart from the fact that I managed to keep calm and learn from my mistakes. I realized where I needed to improve and where to put more attention. In the best of all worlds, it is to continue to apply what I learn to achieve days like today more often. »
Julien Viel took 10th place. Gabriel Dufresne (21st), Louis-David Chalifoux (25th), Sam Cordell (27th) and Samuel Goodison (32nd) were the other Canadians in the running.
Kingsbury now has 83 wins on the World Cup circuit in 139 starts. This latest success allows him to already have a 100-point lead in the World Cup standings, with 360 against 260 for Horishima. Vaillancourt is in seventh place, with 116.
Among the women, the Australian Jakara Anthony beat the Americans Jaelin Kauf and Olivia Giaccio.
Berkley Brown was the best Canadian in ninth place. Maia Schwinghammer finished 15th, while Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert was unable to complete her qualifying run.
The field will be back on track on Saturday for the parallel moguls.
