ZAGREB, Croatia — Maybe Bode Miller would have been all right if he just scuffed the bottom of his ski boots before going to work. That was not the case, however, and the shoe police hauled him in.

The New Hampshire skier was disqualified for wearing boots a mere one-hundredth of an inch too high in a World Cup slalom won by France's Jean-Baptiste Grange on Tuesday night.

Miller finished 29th in the first of two legs. Before the second run he was disqualified by the International Ski Federation after a random check showed the soles of his boots a tad high.

"It's black and white," said Forest Carey, the coach of Miller's independent ski team. "The rules are clear so nothing we can do about that."

Grange finished in a combined time of 1 minute, 53.31 seconds on the icy Crveni Spust course to edge Ivica Kostelic of Croatia by 0.05 seconds. Giuliano Razzoli of Italy took third. American Ted Ligety was 27th.

Miller's boots were tested by federation officials between runs. The rules limit the height of ski boots to 1.35 inches because knee injuries often occur when boot soles are higher. Miller's boots were 1.36 inches.

"Bode switched boots this morning — he got a new pair," Carey said. "He is very disappointed that he can't race the second run. It's a night race, lot's of people out there, so he was fired up."

Carey said Miller was not aware he was racing in illegal boots.

"Bode has been tested 380 times in his career so no way he would take any risks," Carey said.

Miller, last year's overall World Cup champion, is expected to stick with the boots after a slight adjustment.

Carey said it will take the equipment supplier a few minutes to fix the boots.

"I won't blame anyone in our team in public," he said. "But we'll have some words tonight for sure."

In 2005, Miller was fined $933 for refusing to hand over his ski boots for the regular inspection after the opening leg of a World Cup slalom in Slovenia.

Grange also won the season-opening slalom in Levi, Finland, in November and extended his lead in the discipline standings over Kostelic. Still, Grange didn't expect to be a serious contender for the overall title.

"My focus stays on slalom," he said. "I expect Miller and Svindal to get many points from the upcoming speed events, so I am not thinking about the overall title at all."

Defending World Cup slalom champion Manfred Moelgg was fourth, 0.45 seconds behind. Mario Matt of Austria, last year's winner, finished 18th.