Pinturault leads in giant slalom in Japan World Cup stage

Alexis Pinturault led a French one-two in the giant slalom in Yuzawa-Naeba on Saturday to mark his second World Cup win of the season and the 11th of his career.

time The Sochi Olympic bronze medallist, stormed to a combined time of two minutes, 34.23 seconds to edge out countryman Mathieu Faivre in Japan by just over half a second thanks to a sizzling second run.

Pinturault clocked a time of 1:17.78 in soft conditions caused by the warm temperatures to top the time sheets with veteran Italian Massimiliano Blardone rounding out the podium 0.67 seconds off the pace.
Austria's Marcel Hirscher, who leads the giant slalom and overall World Cup standings, was sixth more than a second and a half back after struggling with a course that offered little to his aggressive style.

Victory moved Pinturault into fifth in the giant slalom standings and sixth overall, still with some work to do to catch Hirscher, winner of three giants this season.

"It's a difficult course," Pinturault told reporters. "Especially on the second run it was hard to find a balance between attacking and staying in control.

"Some of the gates were in quite bumpy positions too," he added. "I mean it's no Adelboden but it's still a good World Cup course."

Norwegian Henrik Kristoffersen was fourth quickest, 0.77 behind Pinturault, to help him shave a little off Hirscher's lead in the overall standings. The Austrian has 1,045 points with Kristoffersen on 921.

Germany's Fritz Dopfer, quickest on the first run, could only finish seventh as the conditions deteriorated.
Source :AFP