Stephan Goergl

Ted Ligety posted a blazing second run on Sunday to grab 10th place in a World Cup giant slalom in the French Alps that Bode Miller skipped to protect an ankle he injured playing volleyball. Ligety made several crucial errors that cost him more than 2 seconds in the morning run on the icy Face de Bellevarde course, but stormed back to post the second run's best time, 1 minute, 9.86 seconds, and finish 0.83 seconds away from a second podium-finish in as many days. Marcel Hirscher claimed his first World Cup victory, winning ahead of Massimiliano Blardone of Italy and Austrian Benjamin Raich ... Read Full Story

Swiss tyro Carlo Janka returns here for a three-day World Cup event starting Friday in the best form of his life and onto an unforgiving slope which he has admitted to relishing. The 23-year-old Janka became the first man since 2007 to win three consecutive alpine men's World Cup ski races when he won the giant slalom on the Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek last weekend to add to his earlier victories in downhill and super combined. Tellingly it was the last North American elite race before next February's Winter Olympics at Vancouver and left Janka installed as the World Cup overall ... Read Full Story

Austrian Marcel Hirscher posted the fastest run in the first leg of the World Cup giant slalom here on Sunday but Swiss star Carlo Janka continued his rotten form by again crashing out. Janka span nastily after clipping a gate about a third the way down the Face de Bellevarde course in bright sunshine that left him nursing a gash on his right cheek. The 23-year-old Swiss racer, who notched up a hat-trick of wins in Beaver Creek last weekend, also failed to finish Friday's super-combined and Saturday's super-G here. Janko's team-mates Didier Cuche, reigning World Cup giant slalom champion, and Didier Defago did ... Read Full Story

VAL D'ISERE, France (Reuters) - Austrian newcomer Marcel Hirscher moved close to his first World Cup victory by clocking the fastest time in the first leg of a men's giant slalom on Sunday. The 20-year-old Hirscher, who placed second in a super-combined event in the French Alps resort on Friday, skied down the steep, icy Bellevarde course in one minute 06.39 seconds. Italian Massimiliano Blardone was dangerously close with the second best time, a slim 0.05 seconds off the pace, with Austrian Romed Baumann still in contention with the third best time, 0.24 seconds back. Swiss Carlo Janka, who captured the overall World Cup ... Read Full Story

Up-and-coming Swiss star Carlo Janka was confident Thursday that he could reproduce his stunning early season form on the infamous "Face de Bellevarde" piste here. Janka arrived in Val d'Isere on the back of a remarkable triple success in Beaver Creek last weekend where he stormed to glory in the giant slalom, downhill and super-combined, a feat last achieved by Austrian great Hermann Maier in 1999. The World Cup events here kick off with the super-combined on Friday, followed by a Super-G on Saturday and giant slalom on Sunday, all to be raced on the "Face" where Janka won giant slalom gold and downhill ... Read Full Story