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Pinheiro Braathen wins Soelden giant slalom / Photo: Johann GRODER - APA/AFP
Pinheiro Braathen wins Soelden giant slalom
Olympic champion Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won the giant slalom in Soelden on Sunday, the opening race of the men's World Cup season.
The Norway-born Brazilian clocked a combined winning time of 1min 44.72sec for his ninth World Cup victory.
The 26-year-old finished 0.48sec ahead of Switzerland's Olympic slalom champion Loic Meillard.
Meillard's teammate, five-time overall World Cup champion Marco Odermatt, rounded out the podium, just one-hundredth of a second adrift.
Pinheiro Braathen had laid down the fastest first run on a shortened, wind-battered Rettenbach course.
And he held his nerve on the second descent to kick off his season in some style.
The World Cup circuit's next races come in Finland, where there will be a men and women's slalom on November 14-15 in Levi.
X.Herrmann--BlnAP
