BRITAIN’S Dave Ryding had his best-ever finish on the punishing Wengen slalom course in skiing’s World Cup today.

Ryding took eighth place out of 74 competitors in Switzerland after standing at 15th on his first run then coming through the field strongly with his second, which had him punching the air and briefly sitting in first place with 14 skiers to come.

Although Ryding’s lead was overhauled on the very next run, a top five position looked a possibility until near the end. 

Clement Noel of France won the event, with two Austrians, Manuel Feller and Marcel Hirscher, finishing in second and third place respectively.

“All in all I was very happy with my skiing,” said Ryding, whose previous best at the Wengen slalom was 12th in 2017. “Conditions were sensational, absolutely perfect, and it was good to get into the lead even if it didn’t last long. It was also great to see so many British fans here.”

Ryding, who hails from Bretherton in Lancashire and is based at the Kandahar ski club in Murren, not far from Wengen, is having a good January, having finished runner-up in the parallel slalom in Oslo on New Year’s Day. 

The 32-year-old’s best finish in a World Cup slalom is second in Kitzbuhel in Austria in 2017. His eighth position yesterday puts him 24th in the World Cup slalom table for the 2018/19 season,  which finishes in March.

The other British skiier at Wengen, Laurie Taylor, ended up 36th on the first run, not enough to take him into the final phase.