BORMIO, Italy (AFP) - Italian Manfred Moelgg drew first blood in his battle with Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Grange for the World Cup slalom title after the first leg of the finale here Saturday.

Moelgg, starting with bib number one, appeared to benefit from his early start to set a fastest first run time of 53.50sec on the Stelvio course.

An unexplained technical hitch then delayed the race for nearly 10 minutes, and after it resumed none of the field bettered the 23-year-old's time.

Grange, who leads Moelgg by 21 points in the slalom World Cup, started seventh but could only finish 0.41secs off his Italian rival's pace in fourth place.

Germany's Felix Neureuther took second place at 0.09sec behind Moelgg, with Austrian Reinfried Herbst in third at 0.39.

It means the stage is set for a title-deciding second run at 1130 GMT.

The only other contender for the slalom trophy, Austrian Mario Matt, crashed out in the first leg alongside a number of other top slalomers.

Rainder Schoenfelder of Austria went round only six gates before crashing out, while Sweden's Jens Byggmark ended a chaotic run by crashing out near the bottom.

American Ted Ligety, who secured the giant slalom crown on Friday, also did not finish. His compatriot Bode Miller, the new overall World Cup champion, did not start.