American Ted Ligety claimed his second World Cup giant slalom victory in a week after dominating a quality field over two runs in Val D’Isere, France, on the difficult Bellevarde piste yesterday.
Ligety had dominated the first leg with a 0.26 second lead on Norwegian all-rounder Aksel Lund Svindal and maintained his composure in a storming second run to keep Svindal in second place at a massive 1.01 seconds behind.
Italian Massimiliano Blardone finished in third place.
PHOTO: EPA
Ligety reinforced his lead of the giant slalom standings with a perfect 200 points from two races held so far. He opened his account by winning at Beaver Creek in Colorado last weekend.
Most competitors struggled on the steep course, which is regarded as one of the most difficult on the circuit. Bode Miller of the US skied out after just a few gates in the first run, while local favorite Jean-Baptiste Grange of France also went out in the first run after three gates.
Austrian Philipp Schoerghofer crashed near the finish of his first run and ended uninjured in the safety net.
``This is a very difficult course and it’s not easy for all of us,’’ Ligety said. ``I’ve seen a bunch of guys making mistakes.’’
``This is one of my cleanest runs here for sure,’’ Ligety said of his impressive first run.
Meanwhile, the women’s World Cup suger-G event in St Moritz, Switzerland, was canceled because of strong winds and poor visibility.
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