VAL D’ISERE, France (AP) — Marco Odermatt dominated the first run of a World Cup giant slalom Saturday despite a big and untypical early mistake by the Swiss star.
The Olympic, world and World Cup champion in giant slalom was unbalanced six seconds into his run but still finished 0.65 seconds faster than Henrik Kristoffersen and 0.75 ahead of his teammate Loïc Meillard.
Seeking a career-best result, Andorra skier Joan Verdu was fifth-fastest with 1.26 to make up in the second run in the afternoon.
Storied resort Val d’Isere hosted its traditional early season meet days after learning it is unlikely to be in the venue plan for the 2030 Olympics that France is set to host. Courchevel and Meribel are instead favored to stage Alpine skiing.
At the 1992 Winter Games hosted by nearby Albertville, Val d’Isere staged men’s Alpine races and the giant slalom was won by Italian great Alberto Tomba.
The 26-year-old Odermatt can tie Tomba on 15 career wins in World Cup giant slalom with victory Saturday.
The leaderboard had a familiar look with the two-time defending overall World Cup champion on top.
Odermatt won seven of the 10 World Cup giant slaloms last season and Kristoffersen was runner-up five times. In four of those, Odermatt denied him victory.
Saturday’s race is just the second official race of the weather-affected men’s World Cup after a series of cancellations and the abandonment of the season-opening giant slalom at Soelden, Austria.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
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