No tearful statement or long message to thank all his partners or friends crossed during his long career. As an announcement of retirement, Julien Lizeroux relied on the voice of Jim Morrison. Monday evening, the French slalom rider borrowed the title of Doors, “The End”, to announce his withdrawal from the circuit. A clip where the 41-year-old veteran appears on the Schladming piste, where he will compete in his last race, before teleporting to his living room in ski gear, then in pajamas next to his companion, skier Tessa Worley – who has won this Tuesday the giant of Kronplatz.
This Tuesday at the end of the afternoon, the technician from La Plagne will descend the mythical Austrian slope with few hopes of finishing in style. The two-time vice-world champion in 2009 in Val-d’Isère – slalom and combined – never managed to achieve a performance to reach the second round this season. The body doesn’t follow as much as it did over ten years ago, but seeing it at the start of a World Cup event in 2021, more than twenty years after its first race at this level, was already satisfying.
“I am the only quad on the technical circuit, it is a fact and I am not tired of it being repeated to me”, he congratulated himself last season. His longevity is remarkable, especially when we know that his left knee kept him away from the circuit for more than two years, 34 months to be precise, from 2011 to 2013. “A lot of people had mortgaged his chances of returning at the time. , remembers his former partner with the Blues and consultant for Eurosport, Jean-Pierre Vidal. Despite this injury, he worked a lot to stay at the top level physically. It is strong what he accomplished. To come back after two years without skiing, few sportsmen could have done it. “
“I have thought 1000 times about stopping”
“When you are injured, the doubt is even more present, especially when you have throbbing injuries, explained the person concerned to RMC before his return in 2013 to Levi. I am often asked if I have considered quitting. I have thought about it a thousand times. But before seeing this sporting challenge, I had above all the human challenge: to find a normal life. “
His other life will begin this Tuesday evening, after a career punctuated by three World Cup victories for nine podiums, but where he could never exceed ninth place at the Olympics. “His injuries penalized him, he had a much greater capacity without that, says Vidal. He’s a real competitor, he always tried to pull the group up. This Tuesday evening, the Blues lose an old traveling companion.
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