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Italian ski racer Giovanni Franzoni posted the fastest time in the downhill portion of the team combined Monday, an event that’s making its Olympic debut at the Milano-Cortina Games.
His teammate Alex Vinatzer will take the slalom course later in the day with a slim lead over a trio of Swiss teams. The team combined event involves one racer competing in a downhill run and another in a slalom, with their two times added up to determine the final results.
In second place is Swiss-3, with Alexis Monney racing the downhill and Daniel Yule set to take over for the slalom. They trail by 0.17 seconds. Four-time overall World Cup champion Marco Odermatt has the Swiss-1 team in third place. He is teaming up with technical specialist Loic Meillard. They are 0.28 seconds back.
A third Swiss team — Olympic downhill champion Franjo von Allmen paring with Tanguy Nef — sits in fourth.
Five teams are a second or less out of the lead.
The Swiss swept gold, silver and bronze in the men’s team combined at the world championships last February. The nation made some changes, though, with Odermatt uniting with Meillard. At worlds, Meillard paired with von Allmen to win gold.
Franzoni was the silver medalist in the downhill over the weekend. Another Italian team is in fifth after the downhill run by bronze medalist Dominik Paris. He’s paired with Tommaso Sala.
In the women’s event slated for Tuesday, Mikaela Shiffrin and Breezy Johnson will pair up. They combined to win the event at worlds. Johnson is the reigning Olympic champion after winning Sunday.