Odermatt dominates World Cup GS to consolidate overall lead

VAL d'ISÈRE, France (AP) — Olympic champion Marco Odermatt dominated on Saturday to win a World Cup giant slalom and consolidate his lead in the overall standings.

The Swiss skier posted the fastest times in both runs on the Face de Bellevarde course in Val d’Isère to finish 1.40 seconds ahead of Austria’s Manuel Feller. He had been 0.45 ahead of Feller after the opening run.

No one else could get within two seconds of Odermatt.

An impressive second run saw Olympic silver medallist Žan Kranjec of Slovenia move up from eighth to third, 2.05 slower than Odermatt.

The 25-year-old Odermatt won the GS title last season — and gold in that discipline in Beijing — as well as the overall crystal globe.

Odermatt’s defence of his overall World Cup title has got off to a solid start. He has won three of the opening six races — including the only other GS of the season — and finished on the podium in the other three, which were won by Aleksander Aamodt Kilde.

Kilde trails Odermatt by 140 points and has opted out of the races in Val d’Isère. There is a slalom scheduled for Sunday.

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