Manuel Feller leads first run of snowy World Cup slalom at Adelboden

By Canadian Press on January 11, 2025.

ADELBODEN, Switzerland (AP) — Manuel Feller raced through steady falling snow to lead the first run of a World Cup slalom on Saturday.

Feller, the defending World Cup slalom champion who won at Adelboden last year, was 0.25 seconds faster than Linus Strasser. The 2022 Olympic champion Clément Noël was third with 0.38 to make up in the second run.

As fresh snow slowed the race surface, the three fastest times were posted by starters with bib Nos. 1 to 3.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen was best of the later starters, 0.53 back in fifth place from a start number of No. 19 for the Norway-born racer who now represents Brazil.

The Chuenisbaergli course caught out two strong contenders from the highest-ranked group.

The runner-up at Adelboden for the past two seasons, Atle Lie McGrath, skied out on the signature steep final slope when poised to set the fastest time.

World Cup slalom standings leader Loïc Meillard, the home crowd favorite, failed to finish by straddling a gate midway into his run.

Daniel Yule is the only Swiss winner of the Adelboden slalom since 2007 and the 2020 champion was 1.38 back as the only home racer in the top 15 of the first-run standings.

Albert Popov, the winner Wednesday at Madonna Di Campiglio giving Bulgaria its first men’s victory in 45 years, could not repeat that form and trailed 2.16 seconds behind Feller.

The slalom typically scheduled on Sunday was moved forward one day because the forecast weather and visibility risked forcing a giant slalom to be canceled.

The classic Adelboden giant slalom — a permanent fixture on the men’s World Cup circuit since the first week of racing in January 1967 — was pushed back to Sunday.

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

The Associated Press