Ligety grabs fifth GS globe by skin of his teeth

By Published On: March 15th, 2014Comments Off on Ligety grabs fifth GS globe by skin of his teeth
Ted Ligety with the 2014 GS crystal globe. GEPA/Christian Walgram

Ted Ligety with the 2014 GS crystal globe. GEPA/Christian Walgram

It can’t get much closer than that for a season-long chase. Ted “Shred” Ligety did all he could do to regain the World Cup giant slalom title by winning the final GS of the season in Lenzerheide, Switzerland Saturday (March 15). But standings leader Marcel Hirscher wasn’t about to give up his points lead without a fight. In the end, first Alexis Pinturault and then Felix Neureuther squeezed between Ligety and Hirscher, pushing the Austrian down to fourth place by a hundredth of a second. That created a tie atop the GS standings at 560 points each. The tie-breaker, wins over the season, went to Ligety four victories to two. It is the fifth giant slalom crystal globe for Ligety and his second straight.

“I won by the skin of my teeth today,” said a joyous Ligety. “I owe Felix a few beers over this one.”

Just eighth after the first run, Hirscher had flat out attacked in the second heat. His aggressiveness seemed to work against him in the flatter mid-section of the Lenzerheide track, and he finished behind Pinturault by three hundredths. That left the door cracked open, but the five guys starting between him and first leg runner-up Ligety failed to bump him down the finish order. With the crowd buzzing, the standings displayed a recalculated time and again Ligety did what he does best, which is ski giant slalom better than anyone else in the world. He stuck with what has served him so well, arcing turns with a round approach that avoided the worst of the ruts; though he started to lose ground to Pinturault near the end of the run, he managed to hold onto a 0.03 lead. But Hirscher, in third, still held the standings lead.

Neureuther, the first run leader, skied last on the day when warm weather had allowed the snow surface to soften dramatically, leaving some large, deep ruts. Better regarded as a slalom racer, Neureuther was showing the GS form that brought him his only win in the discipline, at Adelboden back in January. He couldn’t overtake Ligety, or Pinturault, but he edged Hirscher by just 0.01, sending the recalculation buzz into overdrive.

“I watched (Hirscher’s) run and knew he would be tough to topple,” said Ligety. “I’m glad it worked out for me by a hundredth.”

This year was the first time in what feels like forever that Ligety’s GS has showed any weakness. He failed to finish two World Cup giant slaloms, at Val d’Isere and Adelboden. He was third at Alta Badia. Those three straight glitches allowed Hirscher to grab a substancial lead in the standings. After Adelboden, Ligety was third in the GS standings, 120 points short of Hirscher. He needed wins at St. Moritz Feb. 2, Kranjska Gora March 8, and in the final race of the season to overtake the remarkably consistent Hirscher.

“I am super thrilled,” Ligety said. “This is a big goal every year.”

See more photos from this race in our gallery here

 

THE SCOOP

Men’s World Cup giant slalom, Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 15, 2014

Equipment – skis/boots/bindings

1 Ligety, Head/Head/Head

2 Pinturault, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

3 Neureuther, Nordica/Nordica/Marker

4 Hirscher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

5 Nani, Voelkl/Fischer/Marker

6 Dopfer, Nordica/Nordica/

7 DeAliprandini, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

8 Kristoffersen, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol

9 Olsson, Nordica/Nordica/

10 Missillier, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon

Men’s World Cup giant slalom, Lenzerheide, Switzerland, March 15, 2014. … It is the 34th race of the mens 35 race schedule… the eighth and final GS. … It is the 40th World Cup race hosted by Lenzerheide and sixth of the season.

It is the 23rd career World Cup win for Ted Ligety… his 22nd in GS. … It is his seventh win of the season including the Olympic GS gold medal. … It is the 270th U.S. World Cup win… the 62nd in GS. … Ligety is one behind Michael Von Gruenigen for second on the all-time World Cup GS win list. … It is his second World Cup win at Lenzeheide.

It is the 22nd World Cup podium for Alexis Pinturault… his tenth in GS. … It is his ninth podium of the season including a bronze Olympic GS medal. … It is his second podium at Lenzerheide this season having won the super G March 13.

It is the 28th World Cup podium for Felix Neureuther… his third in GS. … It is his sixth podium of the season. … It is his third podium at Lenzerheide in three completed races at the site.

It is the eighth best career World Cup placing for Tim Jitloff… his fourth best of the season. … Although he collected five podiums over the season, Bode Miller did not win a World Cup race.

Marcel Hirscher (f0urth in race) regains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1122-1091 over Aksel Lund Svindal (DNF). … Alexis Pinturault is third overall with 999pts. … Ted Ligety is fourth with 969pts, Bode Mller (15th in race) is seventh with 633pts and Erik Guay (did not compete) tops Canada in 13th with 440pts.

Ted Ligety wins the giant slalom standings on a tie-breaker four wins to two over Marcel Hirscher (560pts each). … Pinturault is third with 458pts. … Philipp Brown leads Canada in 48th place with seven points.

Austria leads the men’s Nations Cup 517-3622 over France. … Italy is third with 3135. … The U.S. is fourth with 2758 and Canada 10th with 1057pts.

 

RESULTS

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Run 1 Run 2 Total Time Diff. FIS Points
 1  5  534562 LIGETY Ted 1984 USA  1:08.22  1:07.41  2:15.63  0.00
 2  6  194364 PINTURAULT Alexis 1991 FRA  1:08.72  1:06.94  2:15.66  +0.03  0.20
 3  7  201702 NEUREUTHER Felix 1984 GER  1:08.09  1:07.80  2:15.89  +0.26  1.71
 4  2  53831 HIRSCHER Marcel 1989 AUT  1:08.40  1:07.50  2:15.90  +0.27  1.77
 5  11  294890 NANI Roberto 1988 ITA  1:08.31  1:07.77  2:16.08  +0.45  2.95
 6  1  202462 DOPFER Fritz 1987 GER  1:08.24  1:08.03  2:16.27  +0.64  4.20
 7  24  990116 DE ALIPRANDINI Luca 1990 ITA  1:10.00  1:06.35  2:16.35  +0.72  4.72
 8  15  422304 KRISTOFFERSEN Henrik 1994 NOR  1:08.50  1:07.87  2:16.37  +0.74  4.86
 9  18  501324 OLSSON Matts 1988 SWE  1:08.39  1:08.12  2:16.51  +0.88  5.77
 10  9  192506 MISSILLIER Steve 1984 FRA  1:09.39  1:07.15  2:16.54  +0.91  5.97
 11  22  193967 MUFFAT-JEANDET Victor 1989 FRA  1:08.92  1:07.70  2:16.62  +0.99  6.50
 12  19  51007 SCHOERGHOFER Philipp 1983 AUT  1:08.39  1:08.30  2:16.69  +1.06  6.96
 13  3  50625 RAICH Benjamin 1978 AUT  1:08.54  1:08.40  2:16.94  +1.31  8.60
 14  21  534959 JITLOFF Tim 1985 USA  1:09.68  1:07.44  2:17.12  +1.49  9.78
 15  16  532431 MILLER Bode 1977 USA  1:09.52  1:07.65  2:17.17  +1.54  10.11
 16  25  511313 JANKA Carlo 1986 SUI  1:09.93  1:07.40  2:17.33  +1.70  11.16
 17  14  194495 FAIVRE Mathieu 1992 FRA  1:09.37  1:08.02  2:17.39  +1.76  11.55
 18  12  421669 HAUGEN Leif Kristian 1987 NOR  1:09.92  1:07.66  2:17.58  +1.95  12.80
 19  13  292491 MOELGG Manfred 1982 ITA  1:09.62  1:08.10  2:17.72  +2.09  13.71
 20  26  53902 MAYER Matthias 1990 AUT  1:10.72  1:08.26  2:18.98  +3.35  21.98
Did not start 1st run
 17  421483 JANSRUD Kjetil 1985 NOR
Did not finish 2nd run
 23  292120 SIMONCELLI Davide 1979 ITA
 20  180534 SANDELL Marcus 1987 FIN
Did not finish 1st run
 10  202437 LUITZ Stefan 1992 GER
 8  421328 SVINDAL Aksel Lund 1982 NOR
 4  191750 FANARA Thomas 1981 FRA

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”