Rising American star Ilia Malinin took the lead at the Grand Prix de France after a sparkling short programme performance on Friday.
The 18-year-old, who won Skate America last month, posted a score of 101.58 points despite suffering a fall and not attempting his trademark quadruple axel.
Malinin has steadily improved since winning world championship bronze earlier this year but will face a fight to hold off reigning champion Adam Siao Him Fa.
The Frenchman also topped the 100-point mark, being awarded 101.07, to leave the men’s competition finely poised ahead of Saturday’s free skate.
Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama sits in third place, 3.16 points behind Siao Him Fa.
Youngster Isabeau Levito grabbed a surprise lead in the women’s event, with a strong short programme performance giving her 71.83 points.
The 16-year-old American leads favourites Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia and South Korea’s Lee Hae-in.
“I felt like it was a much better programme than I skated at Skate America,” said Levito, who finished second behind Belgian Leona Hendrickx in Texas.
“I’m happy with my improvement and I’m glad that there’s still room to improve for my next competitions.”
