MADONNA DI CAMPIGLIO, Italy (AP) Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway led Marcel Hirscher by more than a full second following the opening run of the World Cup night slalom on Tuesday.
Seeking to follow up his slalom win over Hirscher in Val d'Isere, France, nine days ago, Kristoffersen led the Austrian by 1.03 seconds.
Local favorite Stefano Gross stood third, 1.23 back.
A big crowd lined both sides of the steep Canalone Miramonti course under artificial lights.
The Olympic bronze medalist, Kristoffersen is seeking his sixth World Cup victory. He's also attempting to become the first man to win the opening two slaloms of the season since Austria's Reinfried Herbst six years ago.
In the overall standings, Hirscher is 57 points behind leader Aksel Lund Svindal, who no longer races slalom.
Showing off a rapid rhythm, Kristoffersen's strength enabled him to maintain his balance even on a few tricky gates that were spaced differently from the others.
''The snow is really good,'' Kristoffersen said. ''It was really fun to ski it.''
Still, Kristoffersen wasn't taking anything for granted for the second run.
''You never know in these slalom races,'' he said. ''There are a lot of gates and turns.''
Hirscher skied immediately before Kristoffersen and shrugged his shoulders and held his arms out wide when he saw the Norwegian's time.
After a holiday break, the men's circuit resumes with a downhill in Santa Caterina Valvurva next Tuesday.
