ALTA BADIA, Italy (Reuters) – Marco Odermatt won the second Alta Badia giant slalom in comprehensive fashion as the Swiss extended his lead in the alpine skiing World Cup standings on Monday.
Second behind Norway’s Henrik Kirstoffersen in Sunday’s race in the Dolomites resort, Odermatt claimed his third victory in four giant slaloms this season.
After winning the opening run, Odermatt glided down the abrupt slope to retain his lead and clock a best combined time of two minutes, 26.07 seconds.
Italian Luca De Aliprandini secured his maiden podium finish in a World Cup event by taking second place, 1.01 second off the pace, while German Alexander Schmid finished in a giant slalom top three for the first time, 1.09 behind Odermatt.
“It’s amazing, I don’t know what to say. I really wanted to do this today. I did everything possible to do it, I pushed, pushed and pushed,” said Odermatt, who leads the giant slalom World Cup with 380 points, 167 ahead of Kristoffersen, who came fourth on Monday.
Overall, Odermatt has 633 points to Austrian Matthias Mayer’s 405 after his eighth career World Cup victory.
France’s Alexis Pinturault, who won the giant slalom and overall World Cup globes last season, was a disappointing 18th as he continues to struggle to find his groove this season.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
