Swiss skier Loic Meillard posted the fastest first-run time in a rain-affected men's World Cup night giant slalom Tuesday as his teammate and overall World Cup leader Marco Odermatt finished nine-tenths off the pace.

Odermatt had won the last three giant slaloms, and 15 of the last 18, but the Olympic and world champion struggled throughout to find his rhythm in the last GS before next month's world championships in nearby Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

Last year in Schladming, Odermatt finished the opening run 0.98 seconds off the lead but still managed to win the race with a frenetic final run.

On Tuesday, persistent rain weakened the course and low clouds in the upper part of the Planai forced organizers to lower the start gate, which reduced run times by about 14 seconds.

Meillard, the 2023 winner, completed his run in 51.43 seconds to lead Norwegians Alexander Steen Olsen and Henrik Kristoffersen by 0.11 and 0.24 seconds, respectively, with Zan Kranjec of Slovenia one-hundredth further back in fourth.

Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, who switched from the Norwegian to the Brazilian federation this season, had 1.22 second to make up in the second run later Tuesday.

Alexis Pinturault, a two-time Olympic bronze medalist in GS who crashed in a super-G and was airlifted from the course in Kitzbuehel last Friday, will likely miss the rest of the season.

The French ski federation said Tuesday that Pinturault sustained a fracture of the internal tibial plateau in his right knee and was expected to gradually start rehabilitation in six weeks' time.