KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia (AP): French skier Alexis Pinturault led a men’s World Cup giant slalom after the opening run Saturday, with season dominator Marco Odermatt more than four-tenths of a second behind in seventh.
Pinturault, the defending overall champion, is still chasing his first win of the season after earning three podium results so far.
He led Lucas Braathen of Norway by 0.01 seconds and Zan Kranjec of Slovenia by 0.19. Italy’s Luca De Aliprandini and Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen also finished within three-tenths of Pinturault’s leading time.
Odermatt, who won four of the previous five giant slaloms this season, lost time following a mistake early in his run and finished 0.42 behind.
The Swiss skier leads the discipline standings by 219 points and would lock up the season title if he is still ahead by at least 200 points after the race, with two giant slaloms remaining.
Odermatt was also expected to close in on the overall title this weekend. His closest challenger, Norwegian speed specialist Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, is sitting out both races.
Kilde is also in the race for the downhill title and opted to prepare for the downhill race at the World Cup Finals in France on Wednesday.
