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| - Frenchman Alexis Pinturault dominated Monday's giant slalom at Hinterstoder, blitzing the field at the Austrian resort to take over top spot in the race for the overall World Cup title. Pinturault, the winner of Sunday's alpine combined at Hinterstoder, put himself in prime position with a blistering first run that left him with a near one-second cushion. He sealed victory over Croatia's Filip Zubcic by 0.45sec despite the deteriorating snow conditions in mild temperatures and bright sunshine. It was his 29th triumph on the World Cup circuit and one that pushed him above Norway's Aleksander Aamodt Kilde atop the overall standings. Pinturault now has 1,148 points, 26 more than speed specialist Kilde who finished a respectable sixth to stay firmly in the hunt for the crystal globe. Henrik Kristoffersen finished third (+0.72) and remains third overall, 107 points adrift of Pinturault. The World Cup heads to the Norwegian resort of Kvitfjell (downhill, super-G) this weekend, and there remains in the calendar a trip to Kranjska Gora in Slovenia (giant slalom, slalom) and then the March 18-22 season-ending finals in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Officials have already ruled that the finals in Cortina, which lies in the Veneto region badly affected by the coronavirus outbreak that has killed 34 people and infected more than 1,600 in Italy, be held without any fans over health concerns. tba/jr/mw/cw
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