Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt cruises to giant slalom victory at Val d’Isere to secure 14th World Cup win

Marco Odermatt was the star of the show once again after cruising to victory in the men’s giant slalom at Val d’Isere, finishing with an overall time of 2:03.62.

It was the 14th World Cup win for the Swiss superstar and his second giant slalom victory of the season, finishing 1.40 seconds ahead of Austria’s Manuel Feller, who registered a time of 2:05.02.

Meanwhile, the podium was completed by Zan Kranjec of Slovenia, who surged his way into third spot with an overall time of 2:05.67.

The course at Val d Isere is one of the steepest and most challenging on the circuit, with the organisers needing to clear 30cm of fresh snow prior to the race.

Visibility at the top of the piste was almost down to zero before giving way to bright sunshine at the bottom, a challenge which was too much for 19 skiers, who did not finish the first run.

The Swiss camp said Odermatt had been suffering from jet lag after flying in from North America for the race, but there were no such concerns here after the reigning Olympic giant slalom champion made a blistering start.

He kicked things off with a superb first run time of 1:01.89 that left the remaining riders trailing his wake.

Manuel Feller remained the closest challenger to Odermatt with a time of 1:02.34 seconds, 0.45 adrift of Odermatt from the first run, while the podium was temporarily completed by Germany’s Alexander Schmid after round one. He registered a time of 1:03.08 – 1.19 seconds off the first run lead, but a second run score of 1:02.85 saw him finish fifth.

British racer Charlie Raposo was among the victims of a punishing course and was the only UK interest heading Saturday’s giant slalom.

Three French skiers qualified for the second run to make it interesting for the home crowd, as Victor Muffat-Jeandet sealed a top-15 finish 1:04.31, 2.36 seconds off Odermatt. Mathieu Faivre was 18th after his first run with a time of 1:04.57. However, it was Alexis Pinturault that fared best following the first run, and registered a time of 1:03.52 – 1.63 seconds off the lead.

As the second run neared its conclusion with two skiers left to complete the course, it was Kranjec that led the way ahead of the Norwegian duo of Atle Lie McGrath and Henrik Kristoffersen, but that was only before Odermatt inevitably reclaimed top spot.

Feller knew that a podium finish and at least second spot was secured with an excellent time of 1:02.68.

However, Odermatt rounded off the event in style to secure his sixth podium finish in as many races with sublime run down the piste in a time of 1:01.73.