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The Frenchman saved his advantage at halftime until the end. Second place goes to a newcomer from Norway.
Alexis Pinturault won the Alta Badia Giant Slalom for the first time. The Frenchman prevailed on Sunday just under 0.07 seconds ahead of sensational Norwegian runner-up Atle Lie McGrath. Third place went to Justin Murisier from Switzerland (+0.24). For Pinturault it was the 31st World Cup victory, the 15th at RTL. Stefan Brennsteiner was eighth in the Austrians’ first top ten result this giant slalom season.
Five of the eight Austrians reached the final in Italy. While ninth break Roland Leitinger fell back to 22nd after a serious mistake, Brennsteiner improved from 15th to 8th in ÖSV coach Michael Pircher’s career.
“In the current situation we have to be satisfied with partial successes,” Pircher said. Brennsteiner said on ORF television: “I have changed a lot in the material, it looks good. But it is important that the conviction comes back that people will run.” He will try to push himself even further in training.
The Austrian men’s giant slalom had not won in this discipline for the first time since the 1992/93 season, the first year after Marcel Hirscher. The last RTL winner of the ÖSV, apart from Hirscher, was Philipp Schörghofer in February 2011.
In Alta Badia, La Gran Risa is one of the most difficult tracks in the World Cup. This time the slope was not as icy as usual. It was the fourth giant slalom of the season for the men to Sölden and twice Santa Caterina and started a technique triple before Christmas. On Monday the slalom season starts late in Alta Badia, on Tuesday there is another slalom on the program with the projector classic at Madonna di Campiglio.
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