Svindal leads Ligety by 0.01 seconds after 1st run of men’s World Cup giant slalom

Svindal leads World Cup GS after 1st run

KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway held a 0.01-second lead over Ted Ligety of the United States after the opening run of a men’s World Cup giant slalom on Friday.

The defending overall World Cup champion finished the Podkoren 3 course in 1 minute, 12.11 seconds. Ligety was 0.43 faster than Svindal at the first intermediate time but lost pace in the middle section.

“I had a good feeling from the start,” Svindal said. “My skis were perfect and I didn’t make a mistake. Ted won here the last two years so he will be dangerous in the second run.”

Ligety was the fastest skier coming out of the start gate and also had a stronger finish than Svindal.

“On the middle section there is a little pitch. I was not super clean there,” Ligety said. “I am in a perfect position. I’d much rather be in second position 0.01 seconds back so I can put pressure on him.”

Marcel Hirscher of Austria was 0.59 back in third. Teammate Benjamin Raich, who leads the GS and overall standings, had 1.71 seconds to make up in the second leg.

“I made a mistake going into the flat part so I had no chance to speed up again,” Raich said. “I will fully attack in the second run but still be more secure.”

Raich’s main competitor for the overall title, Carlo Janka of Switzerland, was not clean in the upper part but recovered well to finish 0.72 behind Svindal in fifth place.

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia crashed as he was thrown off course in a left turn. He fell backward with his skis up in the air and slid into the safety nets but was apparently unhurt.