Kristoffersen leads first run of Wengen WC slalom

THIS IS A FIRST-RUN STORY — READ THE FULL RACE STORY HERE

WENGEN, Switzerland — Henrik Kristoffersen made good use of his No. 1 draw in the start list to lead a slalom in the Alpine skiing World Cup on Sunday.

Kristoffersen, a two-time winner at Wengen, raced down the smoothest snow surface 0.11 seconds faster than Manuel Feller of Austria, who wore the No. 5 bib.

World champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag was third with 0.58 to make up on his Norway teammate in the second run in the afternoon. Foss-Solevaag leads the World Cup slalom standings.

Clement Noël and Ramon Zenhäusern, the 2018 Olympics silver medalist, were tied for fourth trailing by 0.62.

The Wengen slalom is run on an adjoining hill to the classic downhill course with a shared finish area.

One quirk of the course is an old wooden farm building on the approach to the final set of gates. Racers pass one side of it in the morning run and the gates are set on the other side in the afternoon.

The first-run leaders raced in the shade before the sun climbed above the trees and started warming the snow.

Kristoffersen is a specialist at Wengen with a run of six straight top-4 finishes starting in 2015. He does not have a top-10 finish in the three World Cup slaloms so far this season.

The surprise winner at nearby Adelboden last weekend, Johannes Strolz of Austria, was 13th fastest with 1.27 to make up. Strolz’s win lifted him to receive the No. 20 bib Sunday after wearing No. 38 last time.