Manfred Pranger leads WCup night slalom; Bode Miller more than 3 seconds back

Pranger leads WCup slalom; Miller 3 seconds back

SCHLADMING, Austria — Manfred Pranger of Austria held a commanding lead after the opening run of a World Cup night slalom, while Bode Miller finished 26th after a mistake in the middle section.

Miller lost balance turning left but pushed himself back up with his arm. Miller finished 3.04 seconds behind Pranger, but qualified for the second run.

Pranger, the slalom world champion, went down the course Tuesday in 52.41 seconds to lead teammate Reinfried Herbst by 0.59 seconds. Silvan Zurbriggen of Switzerland was third and overall World Cup leader Benjamin Raich of Austria was fourth.

Miller skipped a slalom race on Sunday to rest a sore ankle.

Herbst said he was relieved to have a clean first run after squandering a strong lead in the Kitzbuehel slalom.

“The course was excellent, though a bit more icy, as I expected,” said Herbst, who won here last year ahead of Pranger.

Zurbriggen and Manfred Moelgg of Italy were the only skiers faster than Pranger in the opening part of the course, but both lost the ideal line when going into its steeper section.

Felix Neureuther of Germany, who won his first World Cup title Sunday, was only 0.04 behind Pranger at the first intermediate time but was disqualified for straddling a gate.