Nastasia Noens of France leads women's slalom after 1st run
FLACHAU, Austria (AP) Nastasia Noens held a narrow lead and was poised for her maiden World Cup victory after the first run of a women's night slalom Friday.
The Frenchwoman trailed a quarter of a second at the second split but picked up speed at the bottom of the Hermann Maier course to edge Veronika Velez Zuzulova by .17 seconds.
Velez Zuzulova is seeking her second straight slalom victory after winning Tuesday's floodlit race on the same course.
Noens has never finished better than third on the World Cup circuit. One of those podium finishes was in Flachau five years ago.
Frida Hansdotter of Sweden was .20 seconds behind in third and Sarka Strachova of the Czech Republic was .42 back in fourth. Strachova was second on Tuesday, while Hansdotter was third.
