Baxter leaves French in his wake to salvage Scots pride

Published on Monday 22 March 2004 00:00

ON the eve of France’s dominant win at Murrayfield, skiier Alain Baxter struck a blow for Scottish pride when he left the leading Gallic World Cup racers in his wake to win the French National Championships Slalom on Saturday night by 0.54 of a second.

Baxter was on dominant form after his lacklustre performance at the NorAm Finals in Canada. He left the Olympic silver medallist Sebastien Amiez trailing as runner-up while the host nation’s other top World Cup stars - Jean-Pierre Vidal and Pierrick Bourgeat crashed out in the first run.

"I was skiing so well all week that I knew I could do well here. I was lucky with the draw to get number one and they also reversed the order only for the top 15 for the second run which all made a difference," admitted Baxter. "I’m taking a couple of days off now to recuperate before the British Land National Championships."

The hosts continued to feel the sting of being beaten on their home snow yesterday when Jo Greig of Weybridge, took third place in the women’s slalom to complete a remarkable haul of five podium finishes by British racers from the nine French championship disciplines.

Elsehwhere in the French Alps, in Meribel, which hosts the British championships for the first time, Finlay Mickel, fresh from winning the French Super-G title on Friday, set the fastest mark on the first downhill training run, over 3.3secs clear of the second quickest racer, 22-year-old Angus Morrison of Perth.

Mickel will face more opposition as his remaining British team compatriots arrive from Flaine today after missing the first day of training.