Ted Ligety of the US won yesterday’s giant slalom at Alta Badia for his third World Cup victory of the season, with French pair Cyprien Richard and Thomas Fanara completing the podium.
Ligety has ruled the discipline so far this season in winning all three races and this was his eighth career success overall as he came down in a combined time of 2 minutes, 31.99 seconds for a 0.14 seconds margin over Richard, with Fanara 0.41 seconds further back.
After previous rousing wins at Beaver Creek and Val d’Isere, this was a somewhat tighter affair for the American and indeed it was Richard who led after an opening run that saw the Frenchman go down in 1 minute, 17.69 seconds for a provisional lead of 0.15 seconds.
However, he brushed a gate with his hand on the second run and that cost Richard dearly as Ligety pulled back 0.29 seconds on his rival, who had to be content with a third career podium.
Fanara bagged his third place after seeing off all-comers in the second leg, where he timed 1 minute, 13.88 seconds — a quarter of a second faster than Ligety — but he had left himself too much to do with 0.8 seconds to make up following their respective opening gambits.
Fanara was still elated having endured an injury-ravaged season last year after snapping cruciate knee ligaments.
WOMEN’S SUPER-COMBINED
REUTERS, VAL D’ISERE, FRANCE
Lindsey Vonn crowned a perfect weekend in Val d’Isere with victory in a super-combined race that lifted her back to the top of the women’s Alpine ski World Cup standings yesterday.
Vonn, the winner of Saturday’s downhill on the same piste, achieved a rare double in the French resort in a combined time of 2 minutes, 7.80 seconds.
Austria’s Elisabeth Goergl, third last winter in the same race, placed one better this year, 0.32 seconds behind the American.
Former World Cup champion Nicole Hosp, also of Austria, confirmed her return to form with third place, 0.39 seconds off the pace.
In the overall World Cup which she has won for the last three seasons, Vonn is back in command with 581 points, three more than Maria Riesch of Germany, who finished fifth.
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