<p>LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland — World Cup slalom champion Marco Schwarz led the opening run of the season-ending race on Sunday.</p>
<p>Schwarz already secured the crystal globe trophy for topping the season-long slalom standings before taking a 0.18-second lead over Clément Noël. </p>
<p>Adrian Pertl, the surprise silver medalist at the world championships last month, was third-fastest with 0.62 to make up on his Austria teammate Schwarz in the second run.</p>
<p>One day after securing his first overall World Cup title, Alexis Pinturault was ninth, trailing by 1.09.</p>
<p>World champion Sebastian Foss-Solevaag was among six of the 26 starters who failed to finish their run, including Ben Ritchie. The 20-year-old American was invited to compete at the finals meeting as the junior world champion.</p>
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