Fanara wins World Cup giant slalom

SAINT MORITZ, Switzerland: Thomas Fanara led a French sweep of the podium places in the season-ending alpine skiing World Cup giant slalom at St. Moritz on Saturday.
It was the first time that 35-year-old Fanara had won a World Cup race after several podium finishes and to do so he had to defeat countryman Alexis Pinturault who had won five out of the last six giant slaloms.
Mathieu Faivre topped the first run with Pinturault in second place, but it was Fanara who triumphed after he took all the risks on the second leg.
For once Pinturault had to settle for second place with Faivre slipping back to third as the French finished the giant slalom season in fine style.
It was the second French podium sweep of the World Cup season after Pinturault finished ahead of Victor Muffat-Jeandet and Thomas Mermillod-Blondin in a combined race at Kitzbuhel on January 22.
“Each time we train we take it to and past our limits and that is what gets us results like this,” said Fanara.
“I am just enjoying the moment after coming close so often. It’s just incredible.”
Austria’s Marcel Hirscher, who was already sure of winning an unprecedented fifth straight overall World Cup title, took fifth place with his closest rival, Norway’s Henrik Kristoffersen, three places further back.