Luc Alphand (born 6 August 1965) is a former

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

alpine ski racer from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. He specialized in the speed events and later became a

race car driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

Ski racing

Born in

Briançon Briançon (, ) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is the highest city in France at an a ...

(

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

), Alphand was world junior champion in 1983 and made his World Cup debut in 1984. It took a decade for him to make his breakthrough winning his first world cup at Kitzbühel 1995, and going on to take the overall downhill title 3 years in a row. In

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

he won the World Cup overall title by collecting points only in the two speed disciplines, downhill and super G – a unique achievement in World Cup history. For this accomplishment he was voted L'Equipe Champion of Champions in 1997. The previous year he won a bronze medal at the 1996 World Championships at

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. In the village of Chantemerle (which neighbours his home town of

in the

Serre-Chevalier Serre Chevalier () is a major ski resort in Southeastern France, near the Italian border, located in the Hautes-Alpes department, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated to the northeast of Écrins National Park in the French Alps, the res ...

region) an expert ski run has been named in his honour. His daughter,

Estelle Alphand Estelle Erika Ainee Alphand (born 23 April 1995) is a French-born Swedish alpine skier, who competes in all events. She was born in Briançon, France, and she is the daughter of the former alpine skier and rally driver Luc Alphand. She has repre ...

, represents Sweden in FIS Alpine Ski World Cup.

World Cup results

Season standings

Season titles

Race victories

*12 wins (10 DH, 2 SG) *23 podiums (18 DH, 5 SG)

Other results

* Junior World Champion of the downhill in 1983 * French Alpine Skiing Championship ** Champion of the downhill in 1985, 1987, 1989, 1990 and 1994 ** Champion of the super-G in 1988 ** Champion of combined in 1987

Auto racing

He retired from competitive skiing in 1997 and started a career in auto racing. First in the Nissan Micra Stars Cup (1997–1998), then in the

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

(2001), the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

(2002), and the

Lamborghini Supertrophy Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993), ...

(2002). He won the

2006 Dakar Rally The 2006 Dakar Rally, also known as the 2006 Paris-Dakar Rally, was the 28th running of the Dakar Rally event. The 2006 event ran from 31 December 2005 to 15 January 2006. It started from Lisbon, Portugal, and passed through Spain, Morocco, Mali, M ...

, in which he had finished runner-up a year earlier. With this victory, he was the first ex-skier to win the Paris-Dakar. He recently purchased two Corvette race cars from

Pratt & Miller Pratt Miller Engineering, also known as Pratt & Miller, is an American company involved in the automotive and arms industries. It was founded by Gary Pratt and Jim Miller in 1989. A defense division was added in 2013 and the company was acqu ...

for use in the

Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

and

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

. Alphand suffered severe back injuries in an accident on the Rand'Auvergne all-terrain motorcycle race on 27 June 2009. In November 2010 he retired from competitive auto racing for health reasons. From 2021 to 2022, he was the sporting director for the

Silk Way Rally The Silk Way Rally ( rus, Шёлковый путь) is an annual rally raid type of off-road race. The first Silk Way Rally was raced in 2009 from Kazan, Russia to Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. From 2010 to 2013, the race has taken place in Russia. ...

. He departed the position following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. Alphand became the

Extreme E Extreme E is an FIA-sanctioned international off-road racing series that uses spec silhouette electric SUVs to race in remote parts of the world, such as the Saudi Arabian desert or the Arctic. All racing locations are chosen to raise awareness ...

team principal for

Veloce Racing Veloce Racing is a British motor racing team founded by Jean-Éric Vergne, Adrian Newey and Rupert Svendsen-Cook that competes in the all-electric off-road racing championship Extreme E and formerly in the all-female single-seater racing series, ...

in late 2022.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Dakar Rally results

References

External links

* *
Luc Alphand
World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation * *
Luc Alphand – Valeo MotorSports

Luc Alphand and Valeo – 24H of Le Mans {{DEFAULTSORT:Alphand, Luc 1965 births Living people People from Briançon French male alpine skiers French racing drivers FIA GT Championship drivers Off-road racing drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Dakar Rally drivers Dakar Rally winning drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Porsche Supercup drivers FIS Alpine Ski World Cup champions 24 Hours of Spa drivers Alpine skiers at the 1988 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1992 Winter Olympics Alpine skiers at the 1994 Winter Olympics Olympic alpine skiers for France Sportspeople from Hautes-Alpes Skiers from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Porsche Carrera Cup France drivers