ALTA BADIA, Italy, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Marcel Hirscher of Austria won his second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday with a half-second margin of victory at Alta Bada, Italy.
Hirscher, who is second in the overall men's point race, edged Alexis Pinturault of France by 0.35 seconds on the challenging Gran Risa course.
Hirscher finished with a combined two-run time of 2 minutes, 37.45 seconds. Ted Ligety of the United States placed third with a 2:38.03 .
"I don't feel like I skied my best but that's not easy to do every time," said Ligety, who failed to finish last weekend's giant slalom in France. "I've had a tough European trip and it's nice to put in a decent result."
The Gran Risa is notorious for its length and steep icy inclines; however, Sunday featured fresh snow that made the course more manageable, but also cost Ligety some speed. "It was just so easy and grippy today that I definitely didn't have quite the right approach," he said. "I was thinking it was going to be slicker than it was. I had a couple of those little mistakes and you pay hard on this type of snow, so I'm happy with third."
