Paris(Online): Alexis Pinturault held of fierce competition from Marcel Hirscher to win his eighth career giant slalom, and heap the pressure on his Austrian rival at the top of the Ski World Cup standings.
The Frenchman dominated on the Face de Bellevarde course in his homeland to record his 17th World Cup victory, beating the French grand slalom record — set the by the legendary Jean-Claude Killy — in the process.
Pinturault’s win was made all the more impressive after the 25-year-old admitted his badly bruised right hand — suffered after a fall in training Thursday — was causing him a lot of discomfort in the warmup.
“Even this morning it was extremely difficult for me to hold the pole,” Pinturault told reporters at the Val d’Isere resort. “But I gritted my teeth and I practically didn’t feel it over the two runs.
“I wanted to be on the podium today and I am on the top, so, perfect. It was difficult because in the warmup I had so many problems with my hand and, finally with adrenaline, the pain went.”
After the day’s first run, Pinturault held a 0.67-second lead over Hirscher and, despite having his advantage cut by more than half in the second run, still finished a third of a second ahead of the defending champion.
