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Odermatt fastest in Alta Badia giant slalom first run / Photo: © AFP
Odermatt fastest in Alta Badia giant slalom first run
Marco Odermatt was fastest in the opening run of Sunday's World Cup giant slalom in Alta Badia, giving himself a great chance of increasing his championship lead.
Reigning World Cup champion Odermatt charged to a time of 1min 14.83sec to put himself in pole position ahead of the day's second run at 1330 local time (1230 GMT).
The Swiss set the tone as the fourth man down the Gran Risa piste in the Italian Dolomites, and finished the opening session 0.31sec ahead of Croatia's Filip Zubcic.
Odermatt, who is also Olympic and world champion in giant slalom, currently leads the discipline and overall standings from Marco Schwarz who was 0.36sec back in third in the first run.
The 26-year-old is 22 points ahead of Schwarz in the hunt for the crystal globe and 20 points in front of his Austrian rival in the giant slalom table.
Odermatt is going for two wins from two in the discipline after also winning the season's opening giant slalom at Val d'Isere last weekend.
P. da Silva--JDB
