Braathen wins 1st World Cup slalom of the season
VAL d’ISÈRE, France (AP) — A flawless second run helped Lucas Braathen win the first World Cup slalom of the season for the third victory of his career. The Norwegian skier let out a yell and thumped his chest after seeing his time on the board and then he just had to wait for his compatriot and defending World Cup slalom champion Henrik Kristoffersen. Kristoffersen had a slender lead of 0.07 seconds from the first run but made several errors on the Face de Bellevarde course in Val d’Isère to finish sixth. The 22-year-old Braathen finished 0.84 ahead of Austria’s Manuel Feller. Loïc Meillard of Switzerland was 0.98 behind Braathen in third.