The China Mail - Meillard's double delight as Braathen bags first Brazilian podium

Meillard, who won the giant slalom on Saturday, clocked a winning combined time of 1min 57.05sec after setting the fastest time in the first leg.

Norway's Atle Lie McGrath finished second, at 0.21sec, while his former teammate Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, now racing for his mother's homeland of Brazil after falling out with the Norwegian ski federation, finished third (+0.47sec) to ensure a first-ever World Cup podium for the South American country.

Britain's Billy Major held the lead with the top nine from the first leg to come.

That proved short lived as first Tanguy Nef and then Timon Haugan went faster.

France's Olympic champion Clement Noel was fourth fastest in the first run, two ahead of Norway's Henrik Kristoffersen, who enjoyed a 77-point lead over Noel in the slalom standings coming into the race.

Kristoffersen slipped in behind Haugan before their teammate McGrath claimed provisional top spot.

Noel was next down, but could only finish 0.41sec slower than Kristoffersen.

That left the top three. Austrian Fabio Gstrein was 0.47sec off McGrath's pace.

A slight mistake in the bottom third saw Pinheiro Braathen squander his lead, but his performance was enough to guarantee a Brazilian podium finish with just Meillard to come.

The Swiss made no mistake, holding his nerve perfectly for a sixth World Cup win to cap a very successful weekend of racing.

Kristoffersen heads the slalom standings on 612 points, 47pts ahead of Meillard, with Noel in third, 86pts adrift.

There is one more slalom to be held this season, at next week's World Cup finals in Sun Valley, Idaho.

With podium finishers bagging 100, 80 and 60 points respectively, the battle for the discipline's crystal globe remains up for grabs.

P.Deng--ThChM