GURGL, Austria (AP) — Austrian skier Manuel Feller dominated the opening run of a World Cup slalom Saturday as the men finally got their season started after three canceled races.
Feller had an aggressive run to carve out a lead of nearly a second on the Kirchenkar course, a new venue on the circuit.
Clement Noel, the Olympic champion from France, trailed by 0.94 seconds and Feller's teammate Fabio Gstrein was 0.99 back, while the rest of the field had more than a second to make up in the final run later Saturday.
“It must have been a good run. It didn’t feel that great, I would not have been surprised if I was third,” said Feller, who was not among the fastest starters but posted the best time in each of the other three sections.
Feller is a two-time winner on the World Cup circuit, but no Austrian skier has won a slalom since Johannes Strolz triumphed in Adelboden in January 2022 — a stretch of 17 races.
World champion Henrik Kristoffersen was 1.54 behind in 11th. Fellow Norwegian Lucas Braathen, who won the World Cup slalom title last year, retired in October.
AJ Ginnis, who took silver at the world championships in February for Greece's first medal in winter sports at a major event, was the third-fastest starter before straddling a gate.
Marco Schwarz shared fifth position with Norway's Alexander Steen Olsen, 1.16 off the lead. The Austrian led the season-opening giant slalom in October when that race was canceled after 47 starters in the first run due to strong winds.
Two cross-border men's downhills in Switzerland and Italy were called off last weekend amid strong winds and heavy snowfalls.
Last season, five of the first six events had to be cancelled or rescheduled because of bad weather.
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