COURCHEVEL, France (AP) — Home favorite Alexis Pinturault led the men’s combined event at the world championships after clocking the fastest time in the super-G portion on Tuesday.
Pinturault has been ill in recent days but delivered a near-flawless run on the L’Eclipse course in his hometown.
The Frenchman led a trio of Austrians, with defending champion Marco Schwarz just 0.06 seconds behind in second.
American skier River Radamus was 0.59 behind in fifth.
“It was pretty OK. I really tried to attack, I really tried to give my best,” said Pinturault, who was mostly clean but drifted once to make a left turn halfway through his run.
“I was really on the limit, but always on the good side of the limit. So, I could handle the whole way down without big mistakes and that was the main goal.”
The combined event adds the times from one super-G run and one slalom run.
Pinturault is a Courchevel native and his family is running a hotel close to the L’Eclipse course.
The Frenchman won the combined world title in 2019 and added silver two years later. He dominated the discipline when it was still part of the World Cup circuit until 2020, winning six of the last eight season titles.
Third-placed Raphael Haaser had 0.14 seconds to make up in the slalom run. His sister Ricarda Haaser won bronze in the women’s combined on Monday.