Alpine skiing-France's Rassat leaves Norwegians in shade to win Adelboden slalom
ADELBODEN, Switzerland, Jan 11 : France's Paco Rassat beat two Norwegians to the top of the podium as he stormed to his second World Cup slalom victory of the season at Adelboden on Sunday.
Fourth after the opening run, Rassat produced the quickest second run as he followed up his win in Gurgl in November.
Atle Lie McGrath finished second, 0.18 seconds back, while first-run leader Henrik Kristoffersen could not respond to Rassat's pace and had to settle for third.
Brazil's Lucas Pinheiro Braathen continued his consistent season, following up Saturday's second in the giant slalom with a fourth place on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Rassat had never won a World Cup race before this season but his form now marks him out as one of the favourites for the Olympic title at Milan-Cortina next month.
Victory left him top of the World Cup slalom standings, ahead of France's Olympic champion Clement Noel and Norway's Timon Haugan.
It was a strong day for French skiers with Steven Amiez seventh and Noel eighth.
Kristoffersen's third place means he now has 99 podiums in the World Cup although he looked frustrated at the finish after some mistakes through the steep closing section cost him time.
The women's super-G planned for Zauchensee, Austria, earlier on Sunday was cancelled because of bad weather.
