It’s been two long years since Alexis Pinturault has won a World Cup giant slalom. He was running out of time this season, as well, but with two controlled, powerful runs, the Frenchman managed a decisive victory on the Podkoren pitch of Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.

It was Pinturault’s day, but Marcel Hirscher managed to grab his share of the limelight, finishing a distant second place (+0.68) and locking up the giant slalom crystal globe for the first time in three years. Hirscher has won five GS events this season and finished on the podium four other times. With a 185-point lead over Pinturault heading into the World Cup Final in Meribel, the discipline globe is now a mathematical certainty for the Austrian.

This GS title in particular holds a special meaning for Hirscher as it is his first in the discipline since the radius change three seasons ago.

“This is the first time since the changing rules I’ve caught the globe in GS,” said Hirscher. “For me, it was two years with a lot of thinking and disappointment against Ted. I was 2.7 (seconds) behind Ted in the first race with the longer skis. We realized that we are so far away from Ted. That was the beginning of a long way and a lot of work, a lot of testing and some different setup things. Many people worked their ass of for this success.”

Saturday’s result didn’t come easily for Hirscher. A couple long, linked recoveries characterized his second run. The Austrian seemed to take a slightly casual approach to the first half of the run, which didn’t pass muster on the technical, icy course. He responded by attacking the lower half, making a spectacular recovery to finish strong.

“The overall globe is not possible if you’re skiing bad in one discipline — you have to have two really good disciplines,” said Hirscher. “If I had to choose, I would say I prefer the big (overall) globe definitely. But it is also really nice to to have the GS globe. It gives me extra power for the next races.”

Pinturault’s performance, on the other hand, was less dramatic — the victory appeared imminent from the moment he kicked out of the start. In his second run, Pinturault expanded his lead through the second split, steadily skiing a reliable line with a quiet upper body.

“It’s a special day for me because it’s my first GS victory after many years,” Pinturault said. “This year, it was really tough to beat Marcel and I finally did it. I’m really happy.

“It’s much more difficult in the second run because it’s much bumpier as a result of the racers, so you have to be really smooth,” added the winner. “Some guys can ski really, really fast. You have to be careful and you never really know even when you cross the line.”

American Ted Ligety was hoping to capture his seventh win in Kranjska Gora and remain mathematically alive in the GS chase but instead finished just off the podium in fourth. After the race, Ligety said he was once again dogged by a stray rock he clipped on the eighth gate of the first run. It’s the second time this season — Soelden the other — Ligety has reported being struck by such misfortune.

“It probably cost me at least a second,” said Ligety. “Half the turns. I couldn’t push on. If you watch the video, on the eighth gate you can see my ski wash away and the rest of the time it doesn’t grab until the very end of the turn, where only the tip and tail grab. Every turn on my left foot, I’m just recovering to try to stay in the course. I was trying to compensate as hard as I could from that, but it’s not easy.”

Of Pinturault’s GS victory, Ligety said he isn’t the slightest bit surprised. In fact, he’s surprised it hasn’t happened a lot sooner.

Pinturault was joined on the podium by his teammate Thomas Fanara, who for the second time this season cracked the World Cup top three in giant slalom. Fanara almost went down early in his second run but pinched the line just right to survive through the finish.

“I’m very glad to be on the podium today because I started my World Cup career here and I thought one day I would be on the podium,” said Fanara. “It’s very good for the French ski team today. It’s a special feeling to share the podium with Alexis. It’s always better to not be a lone French on the podium. I’m really glad to be with these two amazing champions, Marcel and Alexis.”

Fanara knew the technical, icy conditions were favorable for both his style of skiing and his skis.

“I think my ski technique is better on this slope and this snow condition,” he said. “And we know with our skis, Fischer, the best condition is when it is hard and a little bit icy. When the snow is salted with spring temperature, it’s more difficult for the Fischer team. When the snow is like winter, we have a chance.”

Fresh off his sixth world junior title, Henrik Kristoffersen put down a flyer of a second run, fastest in the field, to jump from 22nd to sixth on the day.

Meanwhile, Kristoffersen’s countryman, Kjetil Jansrud, tried to harness some of his GS skills of yesteryear in a last-ditch effort to snag overall World Cup points. He finished 23rd, securing just eight points, and now trails Hirscher in the standings by 123. Of course, Jansrud will not race in Sunday’s slalom in Kranjska Gora. Hirscher, however, will be looking to cap off the weekend with another points boost prior to the start of World Cup Finals in Meribel, France, next week.

The Scoop

By Hank McKee

1. Pinturault, Head/Head/Head
2. Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
3. Fanara, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
4. Ligety, Head/Head/Head
5. Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
6. Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
7. Nani, Volkl/Fischer/Marker
8. Caviezel, Head/Head/Head
9. Schoerghofer, Fischer/Fischer/Fischer
10. Simoncelli, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Men’s World Cup giant slalom, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, March 14, 2015:

• It is the 31^st of 38 races on the men’s World Cup calendar, the seventh of eight scheduled giant slaloms. … It is the 82^nd World Cup race hosted by Kranjska Gora, the 40^th GS. … Ted Ligety has won the last three World Cup GS races at Kranjska Gora.
• It is the ninth career World Cup win for Alexis Pinturault … te second in GS (the first coming at Garmisch in 2013). … It is his second win of the season after claiming the Hahnenkamm combined Jan. 23. … Winning margin is .68 of  second. … Top three are within the same second, top five within two seconds.
• It is the 71^st career World Cup podium for Marcel Hirscher, from 118 completed races. … He has been on the podium in eight of the 11 races he’s finished at Kranjska Gora. … He has missed the podium twice in completed races this season.
• It is the seventh career World Cup podium for Thomas Fanara. … He has yet to win a World Cup race. … He was also on the podium in GS at Alta Badia in December.
• It is the 11^th top four finish at Kranjska Gora for Ted Ligety. … It is the 14^th career World Cup score for Tommy Ford … his second of the season.
• Marcel Hirscher controls the World Cup overall standings 1128-1076 over Kjetil Jansrud (23^rd in race). … Pinturault is third overall with 762pt. … Ted Ligety holds tenth place with 470pts.
• Hirscher mathematically locks up the GS title, leading 640-455 over Pinturault with only one race remaining. … Ligety is third with 422 points.

Results