Luc Alphand

Luc Alphand (born August 6, 1965 in Briançon, France) is a retired French athlete who first excelled in elite alpine skiing and later in rally raid and motorsport. Alphand was one of the major figures of international skiing during the 1990s, specializing in speed disciplines (downhill and super-G). He won 12 World Cup races and became the overall World Cup champion in 1997. After retiring from skiing in 1997, Alphand entered the world of motorsport and rally raids. The crowning achievement of his motorsport career was winning the overall classification at the Dakar Rally in 2006 driving a Mitsubishi Pajero with co-driver Gilles Picard, becoming the first former skier and Olympian to achieve this victory. Additionally, he finished second at the Dakar in 2005 and 2007 and competed in several editions of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a podium finish in the GT1 class in 2006 as his best result. Following a serious motorcycle accident in 2009 that caused severe spinal injuries, Alphand retired from competitive racing.