Luca De Aliprandini led a surprise Italian 1-2 after the first run of a World Cup giant slalom on Saturday.
De Aliprandini, wearing start bib No. 13, was 0.04 seconds faster than unheralded teammate Giovanni Borsotti , wearing low-ranked No. 53.
Neither Italian has a top-3 finish in a World Cup race, and the 29-year-old Borsotti has a single career top-10 result.
Loic Meillard was third, with 0.11 to make up in the afternoon run, as he tries to give Switzerland its first podium finish on the storied Adelboden hill since 2008.
Another lower-ranked starter, No. 26 Erik Read of Canada, was tied for fourth, just 0.13 back in a tight race in near-ideal race conditions.
Tommy Ford of the United States, the giant slalom winner last month at Beaver Creek, Colorado, quickly crashed out of his run.
The wide-open race follows Marcel Hirscher sweeping the giant slalom and slalom races on the Chuenisbaergli course for the last two seasons. Hirscher retired in the offseason after winning a record eight straight overall World Cup titles.
World Cup giant slalom standings leader Henrik Kristoffersen placed 10th, though just 0.45 back.
Overall standings leader Alexis Pinturault had 0.51 to make up, in a tie for 11th.
The second run at Adelboden often upends the result. The sun dives behind the surrounding mountains, making the course darker and trickier for the leaders to pick the best racing line.
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