Noël leads slalom after 1st run, Schwarz closes in on title

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — Clément Noël built a big lead in the first run of a men’s World Cup slalom Sunday, while sixth-place Marco Schwarz closed in on the discipline title.

Noël defied rain and snowfall to post the fastest time as the Frenchman finished 0.49 seconds ahead of Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway.

Noël and Kristoffersen won the last two World Cup slaloms, in France in late January.

Ramon Zenhäusern was 0.56 behind in third. The Swiss skier is the only remaining challenger of discipline leader Schwarz.

The Austrian, who had to make up 0.76 in the second leg, was leading Zenhäusern by 146 points in the season standings. Schwarz will lock up the title if his lead is still at least 100 points after the race, with only next week’s season-ending slalom at the finals in Switzerland remaining.

Overall World Cup leader Alexis Pinturault was fourth after the opening run. The Frenchman is looking to increase his 31-point lead over Marco Odermatt in the overall standings. The Swiss skier doesn’t compete in slaloms.

Conditions on the Podkoren course rapidly deteriorated, with the increasing snowfall causing lots of ruts around the gates.

Visibility was also an issue and many skiers wiped snow off their goggles after finishing, suggesting their visibility had been hampered.


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