Skier Daniel Albrecht finds his form again
Switzerland's Daniel Albrecht has rediscovered his form by winning Sunday's ski World Cup giant slalom race in the Italian resort of Alta Badia.
It is Albrecht’s second victory in the discipline this season and his fourth World Cup win overall.
Compatriot Didier Cuche had a disappointing second run to finish fifth, after posting the fastest time in the first leg.
Albrecht finished ahead of Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic to overtake the lead in the discipline standings.
The Swiss, who was second after the first run, finished with a combined time of two minutes, 32.71 seconds on the Gran Risa course to beat Kostelic by 0.12 of a second.
Hannes Reichelt of Austria was third, 0.33 behind, with Ted Ligety of the United States fourth.
With this victory, Albrecht passed Ligety in the giant slalom standings with 216 points to 212.
Albrecht won the season’s opening giant slalom in Sölden, Austria in October but struggled in the following races, doing no better than eighth place and failing to finish four events.
“I let myself go through a negative phase and I had told myself I was sarting all over again here,” he said after the race.
“To win in Alta Badia is a great achievement for a giant slalom specialist but it’s also a lesson for me. I learnt with my recent disappointments that you should be patient.”
Miller slipping?
Defending overall World Cup winner Bode Miller of the US stood seventh after the opening leg but lost control and fell midway down his second run. Miller slid down about 25 metres on his hip and came to a stop before the safety netting lining the course.
Miller matched his best result of the season with a runner-up finish in the Val Gardena downhill on Saturday but has failed to finish five of his 12 races this season.
In other skiing news, Switzerland’s Simon Ammann came third on Sunday in a large hill jumping event in the central Swiss resort of Engelberg.
On Saturday, Ammann recorded his fourth victory of the season there.
A women’s World Cup downhill race was cancelled Sunday because of high winds on the Corviglia piste in the Swiss resort of St Moritz . The race will be rescheduled later in the season.
The International Ski Federation has yet to decide on a venue.
swissinfo with agencies
1. Daniel Albrecht, Switzerland, 2 minutes, 32.71 seconds
(1:15.33-1:17.38).
2. Ivica Kostelic, Croatia, 2:32.83 (1:16.62-1:16.21).
3. Hannes Reichelt, Austria, 2:33.04 (1:16.79-1:16.25).
4. Ted Ligety, United States, 2:33.16 (1:15.64-1:17.52).
5. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 2:33.20 (1:15.30-1:17.90).
Other Swiss:
14. Didier Défago
15. Carlo Janka
22. Marc Berthod
1. Aksel Lund Svindal, Norway, 430 points
2. Didier Cuche, Switzerland, 334.
3. Benjamin Raich, Austria, 333.
4. Carlo Janka, Switzerland, 331.
5. Daniel Albrecht, Switzerland, 319.
6. Didier Defago, Switzerland, 309.
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