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 name is ...

alpine ski racer from

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He specialized in the speed events and later became a race car driver.

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 (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

), 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 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

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 primari ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

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

in the Serre-Chevalier region) an expert ski run has been named in his honour. His daughter, Estelle Alphand, 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 (2002). He won the 2006 Dakar Rally, 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 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 ...

and

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

. 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. He departed the position following the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Alphand became the Extreme E team principal for Veloce Racing 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 Sportspeople 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 Skiers from Hautes-Alpes Porsche Carrera Cup France drivers 20th-century French sportsmen