Arizona Tribune - Yule lights up Christmas with Madonna di Campiglio slalom win

Yule triumphed by just 0.08sec from Kristoffersen and 0.18sec ahead of Strasser.

Norway's Lucas Braathen, who led after the first run, was fourth overall.

For 29-year-old Yule, it was a fifth World Cup win, all in slalom and two years after his most recent at Kitzbuehel in Austria.

Yule had also been victorious on the same Italian Dolomites course in 2019 and 2020.

"For sure I have a love affair with Madonna," said Yule.

"The slope is amazing here, I love it. I like Italian snow for some reason, and I managed to ski fast again. I'm already looking forward to coming back next year."

He added: "I was at the start gate and I heard the announcer say that this was another podium for Henrik (Kristoffersen). I thought, 'we will see'. And I thought, 'if I go down, I'll go down in flames', and I pushed it all the way."

Kristoffersen finished on the podium for the fourth time this season.

Last weekend, he was second in back-to-back giant slaloms at Alta Badia in Italy.

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt, who doesn't contest slaloms, leads the overall World Cup standings with 796 points.

The Norwegian trio of Aleksander Aamodt Kilde (525), Kristoffersen (385) and Braathen (365) fill out the next three places.

F.Ramirez--AT