(Reuters) – Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen picked up his first World Cup giant slalom title of the season after a thrilling victory in Alta Badia, Italy on Sunday.
In 2019, Kristoffersen became the first Norwegian man to win the Alta Badia giant slalom and a flawless second run earned him glory in northern Italy once more with a time of 2:25.04.
Swiss Marco Odermatt, looking to become the fifth man to win the first three giant slalom events of a World Cup season after victories in Solden and Val d’Isere, came second, 0.31 seconds behind.
“I am really happy,” Kristofferson told Eurosport. “GS (giant slalom) has been a struggle this last year. I knew this year was going to be better.
“We have improved so much after Solden. Val d’Isere was a step in the right direction. I made some changes to the skis two days ago, and the second run was amazing.”
Austrian Manuel Feller finished on the podium last weekend and made it 10 World Cup top-three finishes after storming back late in his second run to come third, 0.37 seconds behind Kristoffersen.
Mathieu Faivre has ended up on the podium in four of his last seven giant slaloms including winning world championship gold in Cortina 2021, and the Frenchman led after the first run, but a disastrous second run dropped him to 16th.
Odermatt still leads the overall giant slalom World Cup standings, and will have another shot at victory in Alta Badia on Monday.
(Reporting by Peter Hall, editing by Ed Osmond)
