As a teenager, Régine Cavagnoud spent hours and hours training by herself on a small hill near her village with the dream of becoming a racer. And in December 1987, when a little-known, young, Swiss skier named Chantal Bournissen won her first World Cup race in Val d'Isère after starting in 36th position, Cavagnoud dreamed that would someday be her.
She had to wait almost 15 years to achieve her dream to win the "Classical" Val d'Isère World Cup event and become the first French skier in 29 years to beat all the foreigners on the legendary "OK" course.
"I want to win races but also to be as consistent as possible throughout the season."
Cavagnoud beat by almost half a second the Austrian speed specialist Michaela Dorfmeister, and by 54/100 her teammate Carole Montillet. Three established super G skiers came in behind this group: double World Champion Isolde Kostner from Italy, Corinne Rey Bellet from Switzerland, Overall World Cup leader Martina Ertl from Germany and the 1999 Overall Champion Alexandra Meissnitzer, who achieved a strong comeback in taking the 7th place.
Two other stars from the women's tour also chose this race to return to the tour: Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg, who placed 23rd; and the 1998 Olympic Champion Picabo Street, who has not competed since her terrible crash at Crans-Montana in March 1998 and had to overcome a very emotional moment at the start. She landed in an encouraging 34th place.
Twice 2nd in super G in Aspen and Lake Louise, Régine wanted more this time, and she put all she had on the line from the beginning on, starting with the morning course inspection.
After her defeats in North America, she admitted she had trouble taking risks on the slopes because she could not remember the exact details of the course design. This time, she spent time memorizing the course setting which enabled her to excel from top to bottom.
"I had a perfect run, I really enjoyed attacking the course at full speed," Cavagnoud said from the finish.
"It's so great to win in front of my friends and all the kids from my area who came to support me. I have been looking forward to this for my entire career. This is a major 'ski classic' and I'm proud that my name is now on the list of all these great former champions who have dominated ski racing in the past. It's also good for our entire team which is quite motivated."
This newest success put her much closer to Martina Ertl in the overall World Cup standings which has become her goal this season after finishing 3rd last winter.
"I learned a lot about myself during the previous winter, in winning three races, and faced much stress in January as I led the overall classifications," she said. "It was a tough lesson which helps me now to be very focused and concentrated; you have another vision of what you're doing when you move at the top level and when you belong to the leaders. I want to win races, but also to be as consistent as possible throughout the season. As long as I finish among the top-5, I'm in a good place."
No French skier has won the Overall World Cup title since 1970 when Michele Jacot celebrated her major international success — a few months before Régine was born.
— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent
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