Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway easily protected his lead from the first run to win the opening World Cup slalom race of the season, beating Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 1.09 seconds on Sunday in Val d’Isère, France.
Hirscher, 26, seeking his fifth straight overall World Cup title, already holds a commanding lead in the overall standings, but Kristoffersen seems poised to challenge his bid for a fourth straight slalom title. Kristoffersen, 21, won his fifth career race and his fourth in slalom.
Felix Neureuther of Germany took third ahead of the American David Chodounsky, whose fourth-place finish was the best of his career.