ALTA BADIA, Italy — In Alpine skiing's last World Cup race before Christmas, Noël is first.
Clément Noël, the Olympic champion whose family name is French for Christmas, took a 0.09-second lead in the first run of a slalom Monday on the icy Gran Risa course in the Dolomites mountains.
Atle Lie McGrath, the Vermont-born Norwegian, was second and Loïc Meillard was third with 0.26 to make up in the afternoon run.
Noël is a 14-time slalom winner on the World Cup circuit with just one top-10 result in three races this season, a runner-up finish behind Lucas Braathen Pinheiro in the opening race at Levi, Finland.
Braathen Pinheiro, who races for Brazil, was tied for 12th in the first run, trailing by exactly one second.
World Cup overall leader Marco Odermatt does not race slalom, and his nearest — though distant — challenger Marco Schwarz was outside the top 15 fastest racers Monday morning. Schwarz won the classic giant slalom Sunday.
The next men's World Cup race also is in Italy on Saturday, a super-G at Livigno. That is close to Bormio, where the men will race at the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.
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