WENGEN, Switzerland (AP) — Loïc Meillard led the first leg of a World Cup slalom race on Sunday in what was shaping up to be another duel between Switzerland and Norway.
Meillard was 0.45sec faster than Henrik Kristoffersen, whose Norwegian teammate Lucas Braathen was third. The leader of the slalom World Cup standings has 0.48 to recover on the second run of the afternoon.
Norway are aiming to sweep the three-race weekend at Wengen, as the team did in 2016, after Aleksander Aamodt Kilde won the downhill and super-G ahead of runners-up Swiss.
A Norway team coach will set the gates for the second leg after a British layout for the morning race helped create big gaps in qualifying.
Riders cited the narrow, winding track on the famously steep Wengen Hill, combined with soft snow in an unusually warm winter, for the difficulty of recording a fast time.
Only five riders were within 1.6 seconds of Meillard and all were in the top eight ranked entrants. Britain’s Dave Ryding was 3.35 in 14th place.
Riders in the top 20 times trailed the leader by more than four seconds, a huge gap in the ski World Cup.
Meillard is a consistent slalom performer, including fourth behind Braathen in nearby Adelboden. last Sunday, although he has never won a race in the discipline.
Kristoffersen’s two career wins at Wengen include the Norwegian sweep in 2016 after Aksel Lund Svindal won the downhill and Kjetil Jansrud won the alpine medley.
The Norwegian challenge will be without world champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag, who was unable to complete the first race.
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