Luc Alphand

Luc Alphand (born 6 August 1965) is a former World Cup alpine ski racer from France. He specialized in the speed events and later became a race car driver.

Luc Alphand

Personal information
Born	(1965-08-06) 6 August 1965 (age 59) Briançon, Hautes-Alpes, France
Occupation	Alpine skier ♂
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Skiing career
Disciplines	Downhill Super G Combined
World Cup debut	7 December 1987 (age 22) (first top 15 finish)
Retired	March 1997 (age 31)
Website	luc-alphand.com
Olympics
Teams	3 – (1988, 1992, 1994)
Medals	0
World Championships
Teams	4 – (1985, 1993, 1996, 1997)
Medals	1 (0 gold)
World Cup
Seasons	10 – (1988–97)
Wins	12 – (10 DH, 2 SG)
Podiums	23 – (18 DH, 5 SG)
Overall titles	1 – (1997)
Discipline titles	4 – (3 DH, 1 SG)
Medal record Men's alpine skiing Representing  France World Cup race podiums Event 1st 2nd 3rd Downhill 10 5 3 Super-G 2 2 1 Total 12 7 4 World Championships 1996 Sierra Nevada Downhill Junior World Ski Championships 1983 Sestriere Downhill 1983 Sestriere Combined

Ski racing

Born in Briançon (Hautes-Alpes), 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 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.^[1] The previous year he won a bronze medal at the 1996 World Championships at Sierra Nevada, Spain.

In the village of Chantemerle (which neighbours his home town of Briançon 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	Age	Overall	Slalom	Giant Slalom	Super G	Downhill	Combined
1988	22	61	—	—	16	37	—
1989	23	40	—	—	10	—	—
1990	24	80	—	—	21	—	—
1991	25	35	—	—	10	17	—
1992	26	53	—	—	19	25	—
1993	27	59	—	—	20	40	23
1994	28	27	—	—	17	14	—
1995	29	8	—	—	14	1	11
1996	30	4	—	—	4	1	—
1997	31	1	—	—	1	1	—

Season titles

Season	Discipline
1995	Downhill
1996	Downhill
1997	Overall
	Downhill
	Super G

Race victories

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

Season	Date	Location	Discipline
1995	13 Jan 1995	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill
	14 Jan 1995		Downhill
	15 Mar 1995	Bormio, Italy	Downhill
1996	1 Dec 1995	Vail, USA	Downhill
	9 Dec 1995	Val-d'Isère, France	Downhill
	2 Feb 1996	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany	Downhill
1997	20 Dec 1996	Val Gardena, Italy	Downhill
	29 Dec 1996	Bormio, Italy	Downhill
	24 Jan 1997	Kitzbühel, Austria	Downhill
	29 Jan 1997	Laax, Switzerland	Super-G
	21 Feb 1997	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany	Super-G
	22 Feb 1997		Downhill

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

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2001–2009
Teams	Luc Alphand Aventures
Best finish	7th (2006)
Class wins	0

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 (2001), the FIA GT Championship (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 and 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Alphand suffered severe back injuries in an accident on the Rand'Auvergne all-terrain motorcycle race on 27 June 2009.^[2] 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.^[3] Alphand became the Extreme E team principal for Veloce Racing in late 2022.^[4]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2001	Warm-Up Luc Alphand Aventures JMB Racing	Michel Ligonnet Luis Marques	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	GT	265	17th	8th
2002	Luc Alphand Aventures	Christian Lavieille Olivier Thévenin	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	GT	299	24th	5th
2003	Luc Alphand Aventures	Jérôme Policand Frédéric Dor	Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello	GTS	298	21st	5th
2004	Luc Alphand Aventures	Christian Lavieille Philippe Almeras	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	GT	316	16th	5th
2005	Luc Alphand Aventures	Jérôme Policand Christopher Campbell	Porsche 911 GT3-RS	GT2	311	18th	5th
2006	Luc Alphand Aventures	Patrice Goueslard Jérôme Policand	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R	GT1	346	7th	3rd
2007	Luc Alphand Aventures	Patrice Goueslard Jérôme Policand	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	GT1	327	12th	7th
2008	Luc Alphand Aventures	Guillaume Moreau Jérôme Policand	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	GT1	335	17th	5th
2009	Luc Alphand Aventures	Stéphan Grégoire Patrice Goueslard	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	GT1	99	DNF	DNF

Dakar Rally results

Year	Class	Vehicle	Position	Stages won
1998	Car	Mitsubishi	DNF	0
1999			16th	0
2000		Schlesser-Renault	DNF	0
2001			DNF	0
2002		Mitsubishi	7th	0
2003		BMW	9th	1
2004			4th	2
2005		Mitsubishi	2nd	1
2006			1st	2
2007			2nd	0
2008	Event cancelled – replaced by the 2008 Central Europe Rally
2009	Car	Mitsubishi	DNF	0

References

1. "Silk Way Rally 2016: The new adventure". Silk Way Rally. 16 November 2015. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
2. Beer, Matt (29 June 2009). "Alphand injured in motorbike crash". autosport.com. Haymarket Publications. Retrieved 29 June 2009.
3. Minisini, Lucas (21 April 2023). "A Russian spy in Paris: Bulat Yanborisov, rally organizer and high-flying Kremlin agent". Le Monde. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
4. "Luc Alphand puts veloce Racing through its pre-season paces". Veloce Racing. 3 March 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2024.

External links

Media related to Luc Alphand at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website
• Luc Alphand at the International Ski and Snowboard Federation
• Luc Alphand World Cup standings at the International Ski Federation
• Luc Alphand at Ski-DB Alpine Ski Database
• Luc Alphand at Olympics at Sports-Reference.com (archived)
• Luc Alphand – Valeo MotorSports
• Luc Alphand and Valeo – 24H of Le Mans Luc Alphand and Valeo – 24H of Le Mans

Sporting positions
Preceded by Stéphane Peterhansel	Dakar Rally Car Winner 2006	Succeeded by Stéphane Peterhansel