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FLACHAU, Austria (AP) — Manuel Feller raced via driving snow to win a World Cup slalom on Saturday after Clement Noël let a first-run lead slip away in his third straight race.
Feller rose from third quickest within the morning to edge Noël by 0.43 seconds and regain the slalom standings lead on a course named for Austrian nice Hermann Maier.
Marco Schwarz was third, trailing his Austria teammate by 0.70 — and a single level within the season-long standings.
Feller’s first profession win adopted six runner-up finishes, together with in two slaloms this season and a silver medal on the 2017 world championships.
“It’s superior and it appears like a miracle,” mentioned Feller, who struggled with again accidents final season.
He wore low-ranked bib No. 26 when he was runner-up 4 weeks in the past at Alta Badia, Italy.
Noël was a three-time winner final season, however acquired his first podium end on Saturday in his fifth race of this marketing campaign. The Frenchman additionally wasted a first-run lead final Sunday when Schwarz gained at Adelboden, Switzerland, and 10 days in the past at Zagreb, Croatia.
“I don’t know, it’s at all times various things,” Noël mentioned, including of his fast begins “it implies that I might be quick. However on the finish we have now to do two runs.”
World Cup general standings chief Alexis Pinturault positioned ninth, rising from twentieth quickest within the morning run. He prolonged his factors lead over Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, the defending general champion, and Marco Odermatt, who don’t compete in slalom.
Kilde’s hopes to retain his title have been put unsure on Saturday when he injured a knee coaching in Austria. He informed Norwegian broadcaster NRK, “I concern the worst.”
Flachau stepped in to host its first males’s slalom for 9 years after two schedule adjustments this week.
Switzerland’s signature venue, Wengen, was ruled out on Monday from internet hosting its storied Lauberhorn assembly this weekend after an outbreak of COVID-19 instances probably attributable to British vacationers.
Kitzbühel, which levels its traditional Hahnenkamm downhill subsequent Saturday, was then slated to host its personal slalom and Wengen’s this weekend. They have been then switched to Flachau to offer extra time for virus assessments in Kitzbühel.
Flachau hosted its conventional girls’s evening slalom on Tuesday — won by Mikaela Shiffrin — and is a flatter slope than ordinary for the boys’s circuit.
“The slope for positive it’s not the perfect however it’s OK,” Noël mentioned. ”However we’re fortunate to have a race.”
Extra AP sports activities: https://apnews.com/apf-sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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