Meillard leads the World Cup slalom in another duel between Switzerland and Norway
Loïc Meillard led the first run of a World Cup slalom in another duel between Switzerland and Norway on Sunday.
Meillard was 0.45 seconds faster than Henrik Kristoffersen, whose Norwegian teammate Lucas Braathen was third. The World Cup slalom leader has to catch up 0.48 in the second run in the afternoon.
Norway are aiming to win the three-race weekend in Wengen – like the team did in 2016 – after Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won in Downhill and Super-G ahead of the Swiss runner-up.
A coach from the Norwegian team will set the goals for the second leg after a British design for the morning’s run helped create huge gaps in the standings.
Racers credited the tight and twisting track on the famously steep Wengen hill, combined with soft snow in what was an unseasonably warm winter for the difficulty of setting a fast time.
Only five racers were within 1.6 seconds of Meillard and all were among the senior top eight starters. Britain’s Dave Ryding was 14th, 3.35 back.
Racers placed in the top 20 were more than four seconds behind the leader – a huge gap in World Cup skiing.
Meillard is a consistent performance in the slalom, including fourth behind Braathen in nearby Adelboden last Sunday, although he has never won a race in this discipline.
Kristoffersen’s two career wins in Wengen include the Norwegian sweep in 2016 after Aksel Lund Svindal won the downhill and Kjetil Jansrud the alpine combined.
The Norwegian challenge will be without World Champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, who failed to finish the first heat.
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