Svindal bosses super-G, Pinturault bags combined hat-trick

Aksel Lund Svindal powered to a comfortable win in the men's World Cup super-G on Friday while Alexis Pinturault led a French podium cleansweep in notching up a third consecutive victory in the combined event.

The super-G result saw Svindal move 107 points ahead of Austrian Marcel Hirscher in the overall standings.

Hirscher, chasing an unprecedented fifth consecutive overall title, was only 23rd in the super-G before being disqualified in the slalom after straddling a gate.

Svindal's victory extended Norway's unprecedented dominance in the men's World Cup, with 13 wins from 21 races so far this season.

Svindal clocked 1min 11.79sec down the 2.1km-long course on the notoriously demanding Streifalm piste in cold, sunny conditions.

It was Svindal's 32nd career victory on the World Cup circuit and his seventh this season.
American Andrew Weibrecht took second, at 0.31sec, with home hopes somewhat fulfilled as reigning world champion in the discipline, Austrian Hannes Reichelt, rounded out the podium in third (+0.42).

"With the ice and the sun, it's a good day to ski Kitzbuehel," said Svindal.

"I made a slight mistake on the traverse, but if you want to win, you have to take maximum risk."

Svindal added: "I'll savour this victory and work so it continues like that, even if you must respect (rivals)."

Svindal, a former two-time world combined champion, had it all to do come the slalom, raced under floodlights.

After Hirscher's disqualification, the door was left wide open for technical specialist Pinturault, 13th in the super-G but only 1.22sec off Svindal, and the Moutiers native made no mistake, producing a near-faultless descent of the icy Ganslern course.

The 24-year-old attacked with gusto and his tactics paid off on a demanding course, clocking a combined time of 2min 03.70sec.

Teammates Victor Muffat-Jeandet and Thomas Mermillod Blondin finished second and third, at 0.89 and 0.92sec respectively.

Svindal had a chance to break the French hegemony, but skied out to leave Pinturault savouring his third combined victory in three seasons in Kitzbuehel.

It was the reigning Olympic giant slalom bronze medallist's 10th career victory and first of the season.

"Today was a real test, a very hard one," Pinturault said of the slalom. "For me or any skier, winning in Kitzbuehel is a dream.

"It's the first time for me," he said of the podium cleansweep. "It's crazy, something special."

Skiers have no time for respite, however, with thoughts turned directly towards Saturday's 76th running of the fabled downhill, which made its debut in 1931. That is followed by the two-legged slalom on Sunday.
Source :AFP