Noël leads 1st run of World Cup slalom in Madonna
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Associated Press
THIS IS A FIRST-RUN STORY — READ THE FULL RACE STORY HERE
MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy — Chasing his second consecutive World Cup slalom victory, France’s Clément Noël held a comfortable advantage following the first leg of the night race Wednesday on the steep Canalone Miramonti course.
Noël stood .53 seconds ahead of world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevåg of Norway and .70 ahead of Kristoffer Jakobsen of Sweden.
The 24-year-old Noël is attempting to become the first man to win the opening two slaloms of a season since eight-time overall champion Marcel Hirscher, who is now retired, accomplished the feat in 2018-19.
Noël claimed his first World Cup victory this season on home snow in Val d’Isère 10 days ago, then also won a second-tier Europa Cup race in Val di Fassa on Sunday.
Foss-Solevåg, who took gold at the worlds in Cortina d’Ampezzo, last season, finished second in this race a year ago.
Jakobsen is coming off a second-place finish in Val d’Isère that marked the first podium result of his career.
The short Canalone course features a “Muro” (wall) with a gradient of 65% midway down.
Austrians Marco Schwarz and Manuel Feller both failed to finish their runs.
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