After two brilliant runs, Feller was delighted with finishing second but like all Odermatt’s rivals, he was left to rue the Swiss skier’s dominance.
“I was orientating to Marco (on the second run) but he is just in a different league,” Feller said. “He’s so awesome, it’s so easy for him. He is just getting better and better.
“I’m not 100 per cent happy because 1.4 (seconds) is just a big difference to first, but the result is awesome.”
Following a disappointing and cautious first run that left him languishing in 11th place, Olympic giant slalom silver medallist Kranjec put down a second-run charge to make amends and take the provisional lead.
He then made himself comfortable in the leader’s chair as none of the next eight skiers were able to dislodge him despite their first-run advantage, guaranteeing him a place on the podium.
“The first run I didn’t ski on the limit, especially in the middle part — I turned too much, I didn’t let the ski go,” Kranjec said.
“So I know what I need to do in the second run but I didn’t know that it would be enough for the podium.”
It was — just. Norway’s Atle Lie McGrath, who was fourth after the first run, finished only 0.03 seconds behind Kranjec and was eventually knocked off the podium into fourth place.
Meanwhile, home favourite Alexis Pinturault, who was born 59km by road from Val d’Isère in Moûtiers, was unable to add to his four World Cup wins on the Face de Bellevarde piste and finished 11th, while teammate Mathieu Faivre came 23rd.
Racing continues on Sunday in Val d’Isère with the first men’s slalom competition of the season.
