Men's giant slalom in Alta Badia: jump-off among the leader trio

Ski World Cup Giant Slalom Men, Alta Badia, 22.12.2013

The men's giant slalom in Alta Badia was a pure jump-off between the leading trio Hirscher, Pinturault and Ligety. They are so superior to the other skiers that currently no one can really keep up with them. Surprisingly, Ligety, who had dominated so far, was beaten for the first time in the race.

The leader of the overall World Cup, Aksel Lund Svindal, was the first to start the race and needed a time of 1:19:80 for the 1st run. Dominator Marcel Hirscher followed in second place and set the bar unattainably high for the others with 1:18:14: Best run time. With this he took 1.66 seconds off his rival Svindal in the overall World Cup, almost light years. Thus he proved his house-high superiority in the discipline. Frenchman Alexis Pinturault started third and lined up just 0.22 seconds behind Hirscher. Ted Ligety, otherwise also hard to crack for Pinturault and Hirscher, landed somewhat surprisingly behind the two in third intermediate place. Another surprise was caused by the German skiers Dopfer and Luitz, who advanced to 4th and 5th place respectively in the 1st run. Felix Neureuther, who is usually responsible for German successes in the World Cup, finished behind his two teammates in 8th place, although a few days earlier there was still talk that he would not even start in Alta Badia, as he had suffered various injuries in a training crash in Garmisch. Top effort and top performance from this point of view! The lead of the leader trio was so big that they could even drop back in the 2nd run: Hirscher set the eighth-best time, Pinturault finished 11th and Ligety 12th. In the end, the winning trio was Hirscher, Pinturault and Ligety.

Ranking list

1 Marcel Hirscher (AUT), 1:18.14, 1:19.31, 2:37.45
2 Alexis Pinturault (FRA), 1:18.36, 1:19.44, 2:37.80
3 Ted Ligety (USA), 1:18.55, 1:19.48, 2:38.03
4 Fritz Dopfer (GER), 1:18.97, 1:19.85, 2:38.82
5 Felix Neureuther (GER), 1:19.72, 1:19.38, 2:39.10
5 Tim Jitloff (USA), 1:19.82, 1:19.28, 2:39.10
7 Benjamin Raich (AUT), 1:20.27, 1:19.17, 2:39.44
8 Stefan Luitz (GER), 1:19.08, 1:20.39, 2:39.47
9 Leif Kristian Haugen (NOR), 1:19.80, 1:19.79, 2:39.59
10 Steve Missillier (FRA), 1:20.37, 1:19.34, 2:39.71

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