Kristoffersen wins World Cup slalom race ahead of Hirscher

VAL D’ISERE, France: Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway easily protected his lead from the first run to win a World Cup slalom race on Sunday, beating Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 1.09 seconds.
Hirscher, who earned a record fifth win in Val d’Isere in the giant slalom on Saturday, was eighth after the morning run but powered down the second run to keep the pressure on.
The 21-year-old Kristoffersen won his fifth career race and fourth in slalom. His other win was in GS at another French Alpine resort in Meribel in March during the world finals, and his previous slalom win was at the Slovenian resort of Kranjska Gora — a week before Meribel. Kristoffersen is also an Olympic bronze medalist in slalom.
Felix Neureuther of Germany improved from fifth in the morning to take third ahead of American David Chodounsky — who secured a career-best fourth place and a fifth top-10 finish.
The 31-year-old Chodounsky’s previous best was fifth at a City event in Moscow in 2013. In December of that year, he also placed seventh in slalom at Val d’Isere, which is becoming one of his favorite courses.
Veteran Julien Lizeroux, the 2009 world championship silver medalist in slalom, also had a good day, taking fifth place. It was the 36-year-old Frenchman’s first top-five slalom finish since placing fourth at the German resort of Garmisch Partenkirchen in 2010.
Chodounsky’s impressive performance was also a welcome boost for the US team, softening the blow of another disappointing day for Ted Ligety, who tied 20th with Austrian Michael Matt.
Ligety failed to qualify for the second run in Saturday’s GS, having crashed in the Beaver Creek GS last weekend.
Meanwhile, Kristoffersen enjoyed better luck than Saturday, when he was just .14 behind Olympic silver medalist Hirscher after the first run but went out after straddling a gate on the top section in the second run.
In clear and crisp morning conditions on the choppy Face de Bellevarde course, Kristoffersen edged countryman Sebastian Foss-Solevaag by .31 seconds and was a more comfortable .79 clear of Frenchman Alexis Pinturault.
Neither joined him on the podium.
Foss-Solevaag’s second run ended early when he straddled a gate.
Pinturault set off at a tremendous speed — drawing a massive roar from the home fans when he clocked 1.13 ahead of Hirscher at the first split — but then he mistimed a gate and went up on his skis and out.
The conditions were not so good by the lunchtime second run and taking risks proved costly for some.
Two-time world slalom champion Jean-Baptiste Grange, ninth after the first run, stumbled badly on the top section and then missed a gate lower down as he tried everything to gain time.
Italian Giuliano Razzoli, a contender for a podium spot, lamented his luck after also failing to finish.
Seeking a fifth straight overall World Cup title, the 26-year-old Hirscher already holds a commanding lead, but Kristoffersen’s classy performance will give him something to think about in slalom.